Neo-Nazi stickers and fliers found in Chestnut Hill
The incident came the week after a report documenting a significant rise in antisemitic incidents in Pennsylvania.
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Racist, antisemitic propaganda and white supremacist fliers were posted in Chestnut Hill sometime between late Friday and early Saturday, according to a neighborhood resident.
The resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, spotted a sticker Saturday morning in the 7900 block of Germantown Avenue that read “88 Crew.” The number 88 is code among some white supremacists for “Heil Hitler,” “H” being the eighth letter of the alphabet.
Later, the neighbor, who was walking a dog, reported seeing more than 20 stickers along Germantown Avenue between West Springfield Avenue and West Hartwell Lane, including on side streets. The messages included “100% white, 100% proud.”
The neighbor removed all the stickers, along with fliers for a white supremacist group out of the United Kingdom called Highland Divisions.
“This is not something that will be tolerated anywhere in the 8th District,” said Councilmember Cindy Bass, who represents the district that includes Chestnut Hill. “I know the people that live in Chestnut Hill do not subscribe to those sentiments and overwhelmingly reject these sorts of attempts to infiltrate the community. It’s not acceptable and it will never be acceptable in Chestnut Hill or anywhere else.”
In its annual report released March 23, the Anti-Defamation League found that antisemitic incidents increased 65% in Pennsylvania in 2022, compared with the previous year. That was far higher than the national increase, 36%.
The report found that in 2022, there were 114 incidents of vandalism and harassment targeting Jewish people in Pennsylvania, the highest number in the state in ADL’s 40 years of collecting data.
Early last week, Port Richmond was littered with hundreds of stickers featuring racist, antisemitic messaging including Nazi symbols and ethnic caricatures.
“The reality is, hate in all its forms is normalized,” Andrew Goretsky, the ADL’s regional director, told The Inquirer in an article published last week. “I used to say it’s becoming normalized. I no longer say it’s becoming normalized.”
Like the neighbor in Chestnut Hill, a Port Richmond resident used a box cutter to remove about 100 stickers from the neighborhood.
Wyndmoor, Cheltenham, and Laverock in Montgomery County have also been hit with antisemitic and racist fliers.