A window at a synagogue in Hanover was damaged on Yom Kippur, a police spokesman confirmed. There are no injuries.
?✡️ Antisemitischer #Anschlag in #Hannover: Genau als das Abendgebet des höchsten jüdischen Feiertags #JomKippur begonnen hat, hört man ein lautes Krachen: EIN #STEIN FLIEGT DURCH EIN FENSTER DIREKT IN DIE #SYNAGOGE! pic.twitter.com/gtxbCTLohS
— Mike Samuel Delberg (@MikeDelberg) October 5, 2022
According to a report in the Hannoversche Allgemeine, a stone or other hard object was thrown through a stained-glass window in the women’s gallery around 7 PM Wednesday near the conclusion of the service.
The police spokesman said: “It is certain that a window was damaged. How – that has not yet been clarified.” There is no reliable evidence of an attack, and the investigations are still ongoing.
According to the newspaper report, around 150 people had gathered in the synagogue on the Day of Atonement to pray. Towards the end of the service, visitors heard a clang and a bang and saw a hole in the window about six meters up.
Michael Fürst, the chairman of the congregation, told the Hannoversche Allgemeine: “The perpetrator must have entered the synagogue grounds. I am deeply shocked.”
Numerous politicians commented on the case on social networks. “Horrible!” tweeted the Greens member of the Bundestag Sven-Christian Kindler, who comes from Hanover. “My solidarity is with the Jewish community. We must all resolutely oppose this anti-Semitic violence!” tweeted FDP MP Frank Müller-Rosentritt, adding that antisemitism had once again shown “its hideous face.”
Three years ago on Yom Kippur, October 9, 2019, in the city of Halle in Saxony, a heavily armed antisemitic assassin tried to cause a bloodbath in the packed synagogue there. He threw incendiary and explosive devices and shot at the access door but could not get into the premises because the door withstood his attack. He shot a passer-by in front of the synagogue and a 20-year-old in a nearby kabab shop. The Naumburg Higher Regional Court sentenced the perpetrator to life imprisonment.
