Attacks on synagogues

The synagogue has often been the site of antisemitic violence and the object of anti-Jewish rhetoric. In early Christian literature, the synagogue was regarded as the foe of the new faith. Violent attacks on synagogues featured prominently in the Nazi German effort to persecute the Jews of Europe. And the destruction of synagogues is also a feature of the activities of various terrorist and Islamist groups.

Overview

Nineteenth century

The 1834 Safed pogrom, involving the mass violence against Jews perpetrated by local Arabs and Druze, featured attacks on local synagogues and the desecration of synagogue ritual objects. Thirteen synagogues, along with an estimated 500 Torah scrolls, were destroyed in the course of the attack. Attacks on Jews hiding in synagogues also took place.

Twentieth century

In the twentieth century, a major event involving the destruction of synagogues was the Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, occurring on November 9–10, 1938. The event was a pogrom against Jews carried out in Nazi Germany by the Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary forces, with participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilians. A major feature of this event was the widespread destruction of over a thousand synagogues. Of the 93 synagogues and Jewish prayer houses in Vienna, the Stadttempel was the only one in the city to survive World War II, as it could not be destroyed without setting adjoining buildings on fire. All of the others were destroyed by the SA assisted by local authorities. Similar destruction occurred throughout Austria, carried out by the Austrian SA with synagogues destroyed in Eisenstadt, Linz, Salzburg, and resort towns. Other notable attacks on synagogues from this period include the 1941 Riga synagogue burnings, an event that took place during the first days of the Nazi German occupation of the city of Riga, the capital and largest city in the country of Latvia. Many Jews confined in the synagogues died in the fires. Many other anti-Semitic measures were launched at the same time, ultimately followed by the murder of the vast majority of the Jews of Latvia. That same year, in Paris, on the night of October 2–3, 1941, explosive devices were placed in front of six synagogues causing damage to them. The affected synagogues were Synagogue des Tournelles (in the Jewish Marais district), Synagogue de la rue Copernic (16th arrondissement of Paris), Synagogue Nazareth (3rd arrondissement of Paris), Synagogue de la rue Pavée (4th arrondissement of Paris), Montmartre Synagogue (18th arrondissement of Paris), and the Grand Synagogue of Paris (9th arrondissement of Paris).

Following the Second World War, notable attacks on synagogues include the 1949 Menarsha synagogue bombing that took place on August 5, 1949 in the Jewish quarter of Damascus, Syria. The grenade attack claimed the lives of 12 civilians and injured about 30. Most of the victims were children. A simultaneous attack was also carried out at the Great Synagogue in Aleppo. Other bombings from this period include the 1957-58 USA synagogue bombings. A series of violent attacks that took place between November 11, 1957, and October 14, 1958. In total, there were five bombings and three attempted bombings of synagogues, seven in the Southern United States and one in the Midwest United States. There were no deaths or injuries. These events took place during an increase in antisemitic activity in the United States, both nonviolent and violent, after U.S. Supreme Court established that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional with Brown v. Board of Education in May 1954. (See also, 1958 Atlanta synagogue bombing). That same decade saw the 1956 Shafrir synagogue shooting in Kfar Chabad, Israel. The attack which was carried out by Palestinian terrorists on April 11, 1956. Three Palestinian attackers who crossed into Israel from Egypt attacked the study hall of a synagogue while it was full of children and teenagers. Six people (five children and a youth worker) were killed.

Attacks on synagogues continued in the subsequent decades. In the case of the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing, which occurred on October 3, 1980, a bomb exploded outside Rue Copernic synagogue, a Reform synagogue, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. The synagogue was full of approximately 320 worshippers. Four people were killed in the blast. According to investigators, the bomb had been set to detonate after prayers concluded and as worshippers were leaving the building. However, the service had started several minutes late and therefore there were few people in the vicinity of the bomb. The 1981 Vienna synagogue attack was a terror attack that occurred on August 29, 1981, in the Stadttempel of Vienna, Austria. The attackers were two Palestinian terrorists of the Abu Nidal Organization. The mass shooting and grenade attack killed two people and wounded 18 others attending a Bar mitzvah service. Two months later, the 1981 Antwerp synagogue bombing occurred on October 20, 1981, when a truck bomb exploded outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, in the diamond district of Antwerp. The explosion took place shortly after 9:00 AM on a Tuesday morning, a few minutes before Simchat Torah religious services were to begin. Three people were killed and 106 wounded. The following year saw the Great Synagogue of Rome attacked by armed Palestinian terrorists on October 9, 1982. A 2-year-old toddler, Stefano Gaj Taché, was killed in the attack, while 37 civilians were injured. The attackers used a combination of hand grenades and sub-machine gun fire. This period also saw the 1986 Istanbul synagogue massacre, which occurred on September 6, 1986, at the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul's Beyoglu district, and resulted in 22 deaths. Reportedly, a pair of terrorists entered on the men's side of the mechitza and opened fire on the crowd with machine guns. They then doused the bodies of the dead and injured with gasoline, which they lit on fire.

The following decade saw the 1991 Sydney synagogue attacks, a series of events occurring between January 26 and March 28, 1991. Five synagogues in Sydney, Australia, were targeted by arsonists. Four synagogues were significantly damaged and one attack thwarted by a security guard. The attacks resulted in the permanent closure of one synagogue, the injury of the security guard. In 1999, the Sacramento synagogue firebombings, an attack on three California synagogues, occurred on June 18, 1999. The attackers were white supremacist brothers Benjamin Matthew Williams and James Tyler Williams who were later involved in other hate crimes and subsequently arrested for the murder of a gay couple.

Twenty-first century

Attacks on synagogues continued into the twenty-first century. The 2002 Lyon synagogue attack occurred on 30 March 2002, involving a group of masked men using two cars to conduct a vehicle-ramming attack in Lyon, France. After ramming the synagogue, the cars were set on fire. The attack caused severe damage to the synagogue. The Lyon attack was one of a series of pro-Palestinian attacks on French synagogues and other Jewish targets. The series of attacks included attacks on synagogues in Paris, Marseille and Strasbourg. The 2002 Djerba synagogue bombing was a terror attack on the El Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, carried out by Al-Qaeda. The attack occurred on 11 April 2002, involving a natural gas truck fitted with explosives which drove past security barriers at the ancient El Ghriba synagogue. The truck detonated at the front of the synagogue, killing 14 German tourists, three Tunisians, and two French nationals. More than 30 others were wounded. Following this, the 2009 Caracas synagogue attack occurred on 31 January 2009 at the Tiféret Israel Synagogue in Caracas, Venezuela's oldest synagogue. The attack occurred amid a rise in tensions prompted by the 2008–2009 Gaza War, after Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Israel and Israel responded by expelling Venezuelan officials from the country. The attack involved a group of 15 attackers who broke into the synagogue and occupied the building for several hours. Security guards were tied up and gagged and the gang destroyed offices and the repository where the holy books were stored. They daubed the walls with antisemitic and anti-Israeli graffiti. They also stole a database that listed Jews who lived in Venezuela.

The following decade saw the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack, a terrorist attack on the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue in Jerusalem, occurring on 18 November 2014. Two Palestinian men attacked synagogue congregants with axes, knives, and a gun, killing four worshippers, injuring eight others including a Druze Israeli police officer who later died of his wounds.

Additionally, the same decade saw the 2017 Gothenburg Synagogue attack, the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the 2019 Poway synagogue shooting, and the 2019 Halle synagogue shooting. Attacks in the 2020s include the 2022 Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis, the 2023 Djerba synagogue shooting, and the 2024 Melbourne synagogue attack.