On the night of Friday, shots were fired at the rabbi's house at the old synagogue in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. There is still no trace of the perpetrator. Holes are now being discovered in the roof of the new synagogue. Meanwhile, the country is increasing protective measures for Jewish institutions.
After the shots were fired at an outbuilding of the old synagogue in Essen, the police noticed two older holes on the roof of the new synagogue, which could also be the result of shots. The damage discovered could possibly be bullet holes, the Essen police said. It's about two older holes about half a meter apart, said a spokesman. "You will have to check whether there are bullet holes." Police experts began investigating the holes. The State Criminal Police Office was also involved.
It was only on Friday night that the former rabbi's house at the old synagogue in Essen, which belongs to the city and is no longer used for services, was shot at. An unknown person had fired at least three shots at a door. The currently used synagogue from 1959 is about one kilometer away as the crow flies from the old synagogue from 1913. It is currently being examined whether there is a connection between the shots fired at the old synagogue and the damage to the new synagogue.
In the case of the shots at the rabbi's house, the investigation is ongoing. The damaged door element had been removed and is now being forensically examined, said the police spokesman. The video recordings would be further evaluated. So far there have been no witnesses. The search for the perpetrator continues. However, it is not yet certain that it is actually a man, said the spokesman. This was not clearly visible on the recordings. Nobody was injured by the shots. An institute for German-Jewish history is housed in the building hit.
The police meanwhile increased their presence at the building complex in the city center. "The protective measures have been increased at all Jewish institutions in Essen and Mülheim," said the spokesman. The SPD and FDP parliamentary groups requested a special session of the state parliament's interior committee. The motion of the two opposition parties for the special session in the state parliament states that against the background of the worrying increase in anti-Semitic crimes, the state government should report in a special session on the status of the investigation and the known background of the crime. In addition, the state government should provide information about the measures to protect Jewish institutions in NRW.
