Wausau, WI – Vandals drew antisemitic pictures in chalk on the 400 Block of Wausau that included claims of Jewish power and control as well as Stars of David with references to Satan. Thankfully, good samaritans came together to erase the hate before many could see.
When Jane Janke Johnson went to work on Thursday morning, she noticed something was different about the 400-block. “I noticed the graffiti right away. I wasn’t sure what it said,” said Jane Janke Johnson, co-owner of Janke Book Store. ”It’s definitely a hate crime, antisemitism. I didn’t recognize it at first,” said Johnson.
So Johnson decided to erase the hate herself until come unexpected help arrived. “We first noticed it when we got here and we were waiting for the theater to open for our field trip,” said Lily Schaefer, one of three good samaritans.
The Schaefer Sisters were supposed to go to a show at the Grand Theater, but at the last minute, it got canceled. ”Well we were here. We had nothing to do and I love helping people,” said Lily Schaefer. “When we saw somebody cleaning it up on the other walls we wanted to help,” said Thea Schaefer, another Schaefer sister. “We offered to help her clean it up.”
So the Schaefer Sisters joined Johnson to help clean up the antisemitic mess.
”Jane was already there with buckets of water and she had three or four buckets of water so the girls right away wanted to help with that,” said Jessica Shaefer, the mother of the Schaefer Sisters. “And we got to scrubbing and cleaning up.”
Their mom couldn’t have been prouder. “Putting your community and nation before your own wants and desires to make it a better place for everyone to live,” said Jessica Schaefer.
“Cause it’s important to help our community and when we can help out we should,” said Thea Schaefer.
Luckily, it only took the girls a couple of minutes to clean up, along with the help of the Wausau Police Department. The Schaefer Sisters scored a free book from Janke Book Store because of their willingness to help.
