Suspect Arrested for German Shul Arson, Made Nazi Salute

Police in Germany arrested a man in connection with a suspected arson attack outside a shul in the city of Giessen, near Frankfurt.

Surveillance footage from outside the Beith-Jaakov shul shows a man wearing a black backpack making a gesture that appeared to be a Nazi salute before igniting a pile of cardboard boxes that had been placed against the building’s facade. The man then walked away from the scene.

German police told DPA news that the suspect is 32 years old, is believed to have acted alone and that investigators have not yet determined a motive.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA), told JNS the suspect’s raised hand “was a poignant reminder that Nazism has not died out.“ He warned that “German authorities and the leaders of the free world must declare war on the rising extremism in Europe,” adding, “Governments in the West must immediately increase security at Jewish institutions, synagogues and schools.”

Germany recorded a historic surge in antisemitic incidents last year, with 8,627 cases documented nationwide – the highest annual total ever recorded and an 80% increase compared to 2023.

The data was published in a 2024 report by the Federal Association of Research and Information on Antisemitism, or RIAS, which has tracked antisemitic incidents across Germany since 2018 and in Berlin since 2015.

On January 5, a storage shed belonging to Brandenburg’s Commissioner for Combating Antisemitism, Andreas Büttner, was set ablaze in what authorities believe was a deliberate arson attack. The fire was ignited while Büttner’s family was inside the home. Both the commissioner and police confirmed that no one was injured during the incident. Police discovered Hamas symbols scrawled on the property.

RIAS noted that the 2024 figures translate to an average of about 24 incidents per day; roughly one antisemitic incident every hour nationwide.