Swastika seen on historic Colorado building during Holocaust memorial day

Police in Denver, Colorado, have launched an investigation over a Nazi swastika seen on display in a window of the city’s historic Austin Building on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Newsweek contacted the Denver Police Department and Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a group which campaigns against anti-Semitism, for comment via email on Tuesday outside of regular office hours. Austin Buildings, which manages the structure, was also contacted by online inquiry form.

Why It Matters

According to the ADL there were more than 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents recorded across the U.S. between October 2023 and September 2024, the highest figure since recordings began in 1979.

The Nazi symbol was on view on the same day as a major ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz by Soviet troops during the Second World War. An estimated six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. Other communities including the Roma, LGBTQ people, the disabled and Slavs were also targeted.

What To Know

Denver Police Department was first informed that a swastika was being displayed on the Austin Building, along East Colfax Avenue in the city, on January 23 according to the Denver Post.

The publication reported the incident is currently being investigated by the department’s Bias-Motivated Crimes Unit.

A photograph published by the newspaper shows a large white swastika in a third floor window of the Austin Building, a complex which is divided into a number of individual apartments. According to History Colorado the Austin Building was completed in 1904 and provided “high class residential apartments over storefront retail space.”

The ADL said it had received more than a dozen complaints, and on Sunday a woman protested outside the building holding a placard which read “Fascists not welcome here.”

According to the ADL, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. surged in the aftermath of Hamas‘ attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and saw several hundred more dragged into Gaza as hostages. In response Israeli forces launched a full scale invasion of Gaza which resulted in over 47,000 Palestinian deaths according to the territory’s Hamas controlled Health Ministry.

What People Are Saying

Speaking to the Denver Post ADL Mountain States senior associate regional director Jeremy Shaver said: “In many cases, a swastika like this could be considered protected speech. The question is who owns the space? Is it being rented? Are there any prohibitions on displays in windows?

“What can be done about it? The community — all of us — can extend our voices to call out the hate, call out that hate symbol, and say it is not welcome in our community.”

Shaver added: “On any day and especially today, Holocaust Remembrance Day, it is very alarming to see that symbol displayed so prominently. It is something we have to stand against.”

What Happens Next

Denver Police Department will continue investigating the incident to find out if any crimes have been committed.