German police arrested a man Thursday on suspicion of attempting to set fire to a synagogue in the western city of Wuppertal, days before Yom Kippur, as Jewish leaders warned of an increasingly open climate of antisemitism.
The suspect allegedly threw several bags filled with flammable liquid at a side entrance of the synagogue and set them alight before fleeing. The flames were extinguished within minutes, no one was injured and the building sustained only minor damage.
Police arrested a suspect shortly afterward and opened an investigation. Authorities have not yet publicly established a motive for the attack. German media confirmed that the incident occurred Thursday afternoon at the Bergische Synagoge in Wuppertal.
The attack came during the Jewish High Holiday period and three days before Yom Kippur.
“Once again, during the Jewish High Holidays, there has been an attack on a synagogue,” Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told the Jüdische Allgemeine newspaper.
Josef Schuster
(Photo: AP)
“What deeply disturbs me is the composure with which the perpetrator carried out this attack in broad daylight in Wuppertal. There is no trace of any sense that he was doing something wrong or of shame. This act demonstrates how far the normalization of antisemitism has progressed.”
Schuster said attacks timed around Jewish holidays were intended to spread fear and increasingly push Jewish life out of the public sphere.
“We will not be deterred,” he said. “In three days, on Yom Kippur, the synagogues will be full. It is the responsibility of the security authorities to ensure the safety of worshippers.”
Schuster’s comments came against the backdrop of another rise in recorded antisemitic incidents in North Rhine-Westphalia, the German state where Wuppertal is located. The Research and Information Center on Antisemitism in North Rhine-Westphalia, known as RIAS NRW, documented 1,102 incidents in 2025, up 17% from 940 a year earlier.
Wuppertal, a city of roughly 360,000 residents, is home to a Jewish community of about 2,500 people.
Same synagogue attacked in 2014
The incident also revived memories of a previous arson attack on the same synagogue in July 2014, during the Gaza war.
Three Palestinian men threw six Molotov cocktails at the building, starting a fire that was quickly extinguished. No one was injured.
A German court later handed the three suspended sentences and community service. The court did not find sufficient evidence of an antisemitic motive, accepting that the men had acted out of anger over the fighting in Gaza rather than with the specific intention of attacking Jews. Higher courts later upheld the outcome.
That ruling drew criticism from Jewish organizations, which argued that attacking a synagogue over Israeli government policy itself reflected antisemitism.
The motive behind Thursday’s attempted arson remains under investigation, and German authorities have not yet classified it as an antisemitic attack. Schuster, however, said its timing and target should heighten concern as Jewish communities prepare for Yom Kippur.
“We want to and will continue to practice our religion,” he said.