Rock hurled into Polish synagogue

A rock was thrown into a synagogue in the northern Polish city of Gdansk, shattering a window while worshipers, including children, were inside during Yom Kippur prayers on Wednesday.

The rock fell “in the atrium where women were waiting for neilah – the final prayer of Yom Kippur,” the Jewish Religious Community in Gdansk wrote on its Facebook page. “There were children around. The rock flew several centimeters from where women were standing.” No one was hurt in the incident.

The perpetrator has been identified on camera, and the police are said to be dealing with the attack as a matter of the highest urgency, the World Jewish Congress wrote in a statement.

Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz issued a statement referencing his city’s recent past as the birthplace of the anti-Communist trade union, saying that: “I categorically reject the behavior of the perpetrators and count on them being rapidly caught. I apologize to the Jewish community of Gdansk. In the city of Freedom and Solidarity, we respect all religions and do not accept acts of hooliganism.”

In Poland, which is home to some 20,000 Jews, deputy national prosecutor Agata Galuszka-Gorska said in May that the number of antisemitic incidents had dropped by 30% to 112 last year, from 160 in 2016. Antisemitic hate crimes accounted for about 6% of all hate crimes recorded, she said.

In November, 60,000 people attended a nationalist march in Poland that featured antisemitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Some local Jews say the government is tolerating ultra-nationalism that elevates the risk of antisemitic violence. But other leaders of Jewish organizations in Poland dismiss this claim.

Opposition by Israel and Jewish groups to Poland’s passing in January of a law that criminalizes blaming the Polish nation for Nazi crimes has fueled fresh reports of rising antisemitism in Poland. (JTA)