Overview
- A small fire was deliberately set at a side entrance of the Bergische Synagoge in Wuppertal and was quickly extinguished by synagogue members with no injuries and only minor damage.
- Police said a liquid accelerant burned on the door and officers detained a suspicious man found near the scene while criminal police and forensic teams began evidence work.
- The Staatsschutz (state-protection) division has taken over the inquiry as investigators seek to determine whether the act was motivated by antisemitism.
- Jewish organizations, including the Zentralrat der Juden and the Orthodox Rabbinerkonferenz, called the incident a deliberate attack and urged increased security for services during the approaching high holidays.
- The synagogue, opened in 2002 and serving about 2,000 community members in Wuppertal, was previously targeted in a 2014 arson attack whose perpetrators received suspended sentences, a fact that has intensified local concern about deterrence and safety.