A Jewish student was severely injured by a 29-year-old man in Hamburg on Sunday, according to police. The German Minister of Foreign Affairs called the attack “disgusting antisemitism”.
The 26-year-old victim was hit in the head with a spade while trying to enter the synagogue, where a religious service was held, according to police in Hamburg.
Her attacker was apprehended, said police, adding that he was wearing an outfit resembling a German army uniform. A piece of paper bearing a swastika was found in his trouser pocket, according to dpa.
The victim was able to escape and was tended to by passers-by before being taken to hospital.
The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heiko Maas, immediately denounced the “disgusting antisemitism” on Twitter, which “we all need to oppose.”
Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, deplored this “act of violent and antisemitic terror” from New York.
The president of the German Conference of Orthodox Rabbis (ORD), Avichai Apel, called the attack a “new shock for the Jewish community in Germany,” saying it was “unbearable to see that hatred and violence against Jews repeatedly erupt on the streets of Germany.”
The presumed attacker, a German of Kazakh origin, was apprehended by police officers in charge of protecting the synagogue, but gave the impression of being “extremely confused”, which made questioning him very difficult, according to a police spokesperson cited by dpa.
The Jewish community in Hamburg was celebrating Sukkot on Sunday. The synagogue was well attended, according to German media.
The assault happened around a year after the foiled terrorist attack on the synagogue in Halle, which occurred on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar, on 9 October 2019.
The attacker at the time, unable to enter the building, had killed a female passer-by and a young man at a snack bar in the East German town. His trial took place this summer.
In a country haunted by its past, authorities worry about the recent resurgence of antisemitism.
