Vandals spray-painted swastikas and an antisemitic slogan on the gate of the community synagogue in Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second-largest city, prompting outrage among local Jewish residents and a police investigation into the incident.
“This crosses a red line and is an attempt to instill fear in Jewish life in the city,” a member of the Jewish community told local media.
Rabbi Mendy Mendelson, the Chabad emissary in Plovdiv, condemned the act but said it would not deter Jewish life. “In the face of hate we will continue to bring light and act with Jewish pride,” he said. “Plovdiv is a tolerant and safe city — this is an isolated act and we are in constant coordination with the police.” Mendelson added that plans to inaugurate a new Chabad center remain underway.
The attack comes amid a series of antisemitic incidents across Bulgaria in recent months. In November, the words “Free Palestine” were spray-painted on the exterior wall of a synagogue in the capital of Sofia, alongside stickers commemorating those killed in Israel’s Swords of Iron War.
In October, police opened investigations into vandalism at a synagogue in Varna and a Holocaust memorial in Burgas.
Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry condemned those acts at the time, calling them “unacceptable” and stating they “cast a shadow over Bulgaria’s historic achievements, of which the Bulgarian people are rightfully proud.”