German Jews still uneasy after 2019 synagogue attack
BERLIN >> As Jews around the world gather tonight to mark the beginning of Yom Kippur, many in Germany remain uneasy about going together to their houses of worship to pray a year after a white supremacist targeted a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle on the holiest day in Judaism.
If the assailant — armed with multiple firearms and explosives — had managed to break into the building, there’s no telling how many of the 52 worshippers inside might have been killed. As it was, he turned his attentions on people outside, killing a passerby and a man at a kebab stand before he was apprehended.
Since then, security has been increased at Jewish institutions across the country, but many wonder whether it is enough amid reports of increasing antiSemitism and the Halle attack still fresh in their minds.
Naomi Henkel- Guembel was inside the building that day a year ago and didn’t immediately understand what was happening when she heard a loud bang outside.
Together with other young Jews from Berlin, the 29-year- old had traveled to the eastern German city to celebrate Yom Kippur, which fell on Oct. 9 in 2019, with the small, aging community there.
She remembers the scene vividly as the 28-year- old German right- wing extremist tried to barge into the synagogue, shooting at the heavy door in an unsuccessful attempt to force it open, then throwing explosives over a wall into a cemetery inside the compound while livestreaming the attack.
“When I heard the sec
ond explosion and saw a light flash outside the window, I knew that this was an anti- Semitic incident,” Henkel- Guembel said.
“Still, I was not aware of the dimension of what was happening outside of the sanctuary — I would have never thought that somebody would throw explosive devices at the synagogue and the adjacent cemetery.”
T he at ta ck suspec t , Stephan Balliet, is on trial on charges of murder in the killings outside the synagogue.
He explained his motivation to the court: “Jews are the main cause of white genocide and want to establish a new world order.”
The attack, one of the most violent and overt anti- Semitic acts in postwar history, caused shock waves across Germany, which considers protecting its Jewish minority of about 200,000 a special responsibility after the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews.
Though many Jewish institutions get some kind of protection — particularly on Jewish holidays — the Halle synagogue didn’t have any.
Now steps are being taken to ensure wider-spread security, said Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
People “were clearly more worried to send their children to school or kindergarten or to visit Jewish institutions,” Schuster said last week.
“But after that day, security staff in front of synagogues and other Jewish places was increased, and it has stayed that way,” he said.
S i nc e t hen , S c hu s - ter said, state authorities have developed new security measures for Jewish houses of worship, and all 16 German states have given varying amounts of financial support to spend on boosting security.
Bavaria, for example, provided $9.37 million to its Jewish communities.
Sa xony-A n ha lt , the state where Halle is located, committed about 2.4 million euros over 2020-2021 to help better secure Jewish sites.
This month, the federal government said it would provide 22 million euros to improve security.