Holocaust survivor a victim of hate crime

Holocaust survivor a victim of hate crime By Lori Porter Acorn Staff Writer

Although Holocaust survivor Victoria Monina, 71, of Westlake Village is far removed from the horrors of World War II, a ghost from her past came to her home early Sunday morning and burned a flag hanging above her garage that read "Happy Hanukkah."

"When I saw it, I felt as though someone had taken something from inside of me," said Monina. "I immediately thought of the Holocaust."

Monina’s daughter, Allegra, who moved to California two months ago from New Jersey, was asleep upstairs when her mother woke her up to tell her about the capture of Saddam Hussein.

It was at that moment Monina saw the disturbing sight as she looked outside an upstairs window. She pointed it out to her daughter and the two went outside to see that the flag had indeed been burned.

Dep. Matt Johnson from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department arrived at the Monina home Sunday morning to file a report. "This is more than vandalism. This is arson, a felony," said Johnson, who also labeled it a "hate crime."

Johnson told Monina that he needed the flag as evidence, but she asked him to wait for her son, Gary Monina from Oak Park, to arrive and photograph the burned flag.

Late Sunday afternoon Detective Pat Dain of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department came to collect the evidence, carefully picking it up with latex gloves and placing it inside a plastic bag.

Monina said she can’t understand why anyone would commit such a terrible act. Also this year a mezuzah was stolen from a neighbor’s house. A mezuzah is a small case-like ornament hung on the doorposts of Jewish homes. The mezuzah is not, as some suppose, a good luck charm. It’s a constant reminder of the presence and commandments of God.

Monina, who attends classes at Chabad of Conejo in Agoura Hills, contacted Chabad’s Rabbi Moshe Bryski, who visited her home on Tuesday and placed a menorah on her front lawn.

"What these things do is they strengthen us. Our policy is if that if one symbol of Judaism is destroyed, then put up a hundred more," Bryski said.

Monina was born and raised in Greece where she later met her husband, a Holocaust survivor who was a prisoner in Auchwitz, Dachau and Bergen-Belson concentration camps. When the war ended, Monina’s 21-year-old husband returning home to find that his parents, two brothers and a sister had died in concentration camps.

After the couple married, they moved to the United States in 1951 and settled in New Jersey to raise a family.

Monina moved to Westlake Village in 1997 after the death of her husband. Her children all live in the area.

In celebration of the holiday, Monina decorated her house with blue lights and the festive Happy Hanukkah flag, which was also adorned with a gold menorah and dreidels.

"I was so excited about Hanukkah because I have my six grandchildren living near me," Monina said. "We are going to have a Hanukkah party here on Saturday."