The shots at the rabbi’s house at the old synagogue in Essen shake. The state parliament and state government in North Rhine-Westphalia condemned the act with clear words. At the same time, the concerns are great.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – The state parliament and the state government in North Rhine-Westphalia have sent a clear signal against anti-Semitism after the attack on the former rabbinical house of the old synagogue in Essen. Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) said on Wednesday in a session of the state parliament: “We are not going about the agenda. We look closely and we raise our voice and we call out to the perpetrator or perpetrators: Jewish life, Jews, belong in our midst. We stand by their side.” Don’t be intimidated. And: “We protect Jewish life in our country.” There is “increased and reliable” funding for the security of Jewish institutions.
Wüst emphasized at the current hour in Düsseldorf: “We in North Rhine-Westphalia take the shots very personally.” The attack hit “our common house” and the coexistence of religions. “After the crime against humanity of the Holocaust, we swore: Never again!” No attacker can do anything to change the fact that Jewish life in all its breadth has a place in NRW.
Investigators assume that the incident on Friday night was an “extremist and anti-Semitic motivated act”. In addition, damage was discovered on the metal roof of the New Synagogue in Essen on Saturday, which is said to have occurred at least a month ago.
State Parliament President André Kuper emphasized: “We, the members of parliament, deeply condemn the renewed attack, which was obviously motivated by anti-Semitism.” He welcomed Schalwa Chemsuraschwili, the head of Essen’s Jewish community, and NRW anti-Semitism officer Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, who followed the meeting from the visitors’ gallery. “The state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia stands firmly by your side.”
“Jewish life, Jews, are repeatedly exposed to hate and violence,” criticized CDU faction leader Thorsten Schick. NRW is home to the largest Jewish community in the Federal Republic. The shots were also aimed “at the heart of interreligious dialogue”. In 2018, the Office of the Anti-Semitism Officer was created in NRW, and in April 2022 the Anti-Semitism Reporting Office. In addition, a dark field study was commissioned this October.
Green parliamentary group leader Verena Schäffer complained that in 2021 the police recorded a record high of anti-Semitic crime in NRW with 437 crimes. “We will continue to promote the fight against anti-Semitism through more training and further education for employees in the police, judiciary and schools, we will make teachers more confident in dealing with anti-Semitism.” Everyone must be able to rely on law enforcement agencies to take consistent action against anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism reaches far into the middle of society.
SPD faction leader Thomas Kutschaty spoke of an attack on Jews and at the same time on democracy. It is a shame that Jews have cause for fear. In NRW there is “not a millimeter of space” for anti-Semitism. Chairman Henning Höne warned for the FDP that prejudice and resentment against Jews were alarmingly widespread. In Germany, there are five anti-Semitic crimes every day. AfD MP Markus Wagner said: “Anyone who hates Jews is hating us.”
The Old Synagogue belongs to the city and is no longer used by the Jewish community for services. An unknown person had fired multiple shots at a door. It is unclear whether there is a connection between the events at the two synagogues. Nobody got hurt. A synagogue was also damaged in Berlin over the weekend. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was also shocked. In Germany, “anti-Semitism is again showing itself much more blatantly and openly”.
After the Essen incident, the government factions of the CDU and Greens, as well as the opposition factions SPD and FDP, submitted a joint motion for the current hour. It states that it is a “political and societal task to ensure that Jews can live in Germany without fear.”
