German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged solidarity with the country’s Jews one day after two were murdered in an attack on a synagogue.
On Wednesday, a gunman killed two people and injured several others near a synagogue in the German city of Halle during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism. Steinmeier called it a “day of shame and disgrace,” according to Reuters.
“I’m very sure the overwhelming majority of this society in Germany wants Jewish life to be part of this country,” said Steinmeier on Thursday while speaking outside the synagogue in Halle. “We must stand together long term against violence like we experienced here yesterday. We must protect Jewish life.”
German chancellor Angela Merkel, who also spoke earlier Thursday, said she was “shocked and dejected” by the attack, and said “the representatives of the state must use all the means of the state to crack down on hate, violence, and hostility towards people.”
The gunman involved in the attack tried to break into the synagogue, but the lock on the building’s door held, likely saving many lives as over 50 people were barricaded inside. In the aftermath of the attack, Jewish leaders raised concerns about security at places of worship.
“The fact that the synagogue in Halle was not protected by the police on a holiday like Yom Kippur is scandalous,” said Josef Schuster, president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, a federation of German Jews.
The attack also comes at a time when anti-Semitic violence is on the rise in Germany. Anti-Semitic hate crimes increased by almost 20% from 2017 to 2018, and political support for far-right political parties has surged. A politician from one such party, the Alternative for Germany, called Berlin’s Holocaust memorial a “monument of shame” in 2017.
