BERLIN – Less than a year after a synagogue was attacked in the eastern city of Hale, a Jewish student walking out of a synagogue in Hamburg on Sunday was attacked and badly injured by an army man wearing a machete and lifting a shovel.
Security guards and police officers were stationed at the Hamburg Synagogue, where people were celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, quickly subdued and arrested a 29-year-old man, whose name was not released by authorities. The German news agency DPA reported that the suspect was carrying a piece of paper with a swastika in his pocket.
The 26-year-old victim, who was wearing a kipa or schoolcap, sustained serious head injuries when he was attacked and was taken to hospital, police said.
“This is not the only case, this is a vile anti-government and we all have to stand up to it,” the German foreign minister said. Heiko Mass, wrote on Twitter.
The number of anti-Semitic crimes in Germany has almost doubled in the last three years. Last year alone, the government recorded 2,032 anti-Semitic crimes. It ended in an attack on a synagogue in Halle in October. In the attack, a gunman failed to push his way during services during Yama Kippur’s holy days. On the Jewish calendar lender, and then murdered two others.
The man arrested in Hell, Stephen Beatliet, 28, is currently facing trial and has spoken openly in court about his hatred of not only Jews but also Muslims and foreigners, and of being influenced by right-wing extremist attacks on two mosques. . 51 people were killed last year in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Last month, Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern about the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany, warning in a speech to the Central Council of Jews that it was a fact that “Jews in many countries do not feel safe and respected.”
“Racism and anti-Semitism have never disappeared, but for a while now they have become more visible and taboo,” the chancellor said, citing the attack in Hell as an example of “how words can work faster”.
In Hell a year ago, the congregation inside the synagogue survived only one massacre. The door of the synagogue was locked and an open blow of clumsily built explosives was heard. In his rage the gunman later trained his weapon on other random targets in the city.
In the aftermath of Sunday’s attack, Jewish organizations in Germany and beyond urged the government to increase protection and focus on a long-term strategy to bring an anti-government deadline.
“I am saddened to learn that this time on the Jewish holiday in Sukkot, a German Jewish community is facing a violent, anti-Semitic act,” said Ronald S. La La Der, president of the World Jewish Congress. One line. “We must ask ourselves, and German local and national authorities must pay attention to this question – why is this going on? Why is Semitism so rich? “
“The German government must take responsibility for strengthening education so that future generations will understand that contempt of any kind is never allowed,” he added. “The long-term viability of Jewish life in Germany depends on it.”
