Bullet holes found at building next to old German synagogue
Four bullet holes have been found in the door of a former rabbi’s residence that adjoins an old synagogue in the German city of Essen
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Four bullet holes were found Friday in the door of a former rabbi's residence that adjoins an old synagogue in the German city of Essen, and a regional security official said a suspect was being sought in what he called an attack.
Police in the western city said witnesses alerted then to the bullet holes on Friday morning. They said no one was hurt, there was no danger to the public and they were looking into the circumstances of what happened.
A video police have may show a person firing at the door, but they couldn't give more details because of the poor quality of the recording.
The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Herbert Reul, said “the attack on the old synagogue in Essen shakes me deeply,” German news agency dpa reported. He said that video recordings were being evaluated and that police are looking for a male suspect.
According to city authorities, the rabbi's residence is not currently occupied by anyone but houses a German Jewish history institute.
The old synagogue is now Essen's House of Jewish Culture. Members of the Jewish community worship at a new synagogue elsewhere in the city but occasionally meet at the old one for special occasions, such as commemorations of the Nov. 9, 1938 Nazi pogrom in which Jews across Germany and Austria were terrorized.
The old synagogue and rabbi's residence were set alight during that pogrom, which was known as Kristallnacht — the “Night of Broken Glass” — and their interiors were destroyed.