Swastikas painted over tributes to mark one year since deadly antisemitic Halle attack, as German’s security agency chief warns of “steep rise” in antisemitism
Swastikas have been painted over tributes to mark one year since the deadly antisemitic attack on a synagogue on Yom Kippur in Halle, Germany.
The tributes were sprayed by a group called Antifa Halle with the names of the two victims of the attack, which took place in October 2019 during the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
But last night – the eve of the anniversary – some of the images, which bore the inscription “Never forget – Kevin and Jana”, were vandalised with red swastikas.
An investigation has been launched.
A neo-Nazi suspect is currently on trial for the original attack. He has reportedly told the court that the attach was “not a mistake”. The assailant had sought to storm the synagogue, but, failing to get through the armed door, he shot a female passer-by and a man at a nearby shop instead. The entire attack was caught on camera.
This latest incident comes a few days after a Jewish man was violently attacked outside a synagogue in Hamburg during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, while a mezuzah scroll at a Berlin synagogue was defaced with a swastika between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Today, noting the one-year anniversary of the Halle attack, Thomas Haldenwang, the head of Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic security service, said: “In the past two years, criminal offenses, including acts of violence, against Jews and Jewish institutions in Germany have increased significantly.” Describing the increase also as a “steep rise”, he added: “Germany has a special responsibility for Jewish life.”
Antisemitic crimes have indeed risen steadily in Germany, with over 2,000 offences recorded in 2019, representing an increase of 13 percent on the previous year.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The vandalism of these tributes to an antisemitic neo-Nazi attack on a synagogue on Yom Kippur one year ago in Halle, along with the recent violent attack on a Jewish man during Sukkot and the defacement of a mezuzah in Berlin following Rosh Hashanah, are examples of what Germany’s own security chief has said today about rising antisemitism in the country. Evidently, Germany has much more to do to address anti-Jewish prejudice and arrest the rise in antisemitism.”
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