German police offer 5000 Euro reward for Synagogue arson information

Germany’s Oldenburg Police are offering a €5,000 reward for information on the perpetrators of an arson attack on a synagogue last Friday.

An incendiary device was thrown at the Oldenburg synagogue’s doors around noon by unknown individuals, but according to Oldenburg Mayor Jürgen Krogmann, the caretakers of a local cultural center intervened and prevented the fire from spreading.

The perpetrator was able to escape, and the police are looking for surveillance footage, car dashboard camera videos, and photographs that could lead to their identification.

Oldenburg Police Chief Andreas Sagehorn said, “The heinous act of last Friday has caused outrage across the country, but also great solidarity with the Jewish community. In solving the case, we are now also counting on the participation of the population.”

Despite attacks, residents rally in solidarity with German Jews

Hundreds of residents rallied on Sunday in a show of solidarity with the Jewish community. The city said the event was attended by Evangelical Lutheran Church Bishop Thomas Adomeit and Lower Saxony State Parliament President Hanna Naber.

“I condemn this act in the strongest possible terms. Attacks on synagogues are attacks on all of us. We will not accept that a Jewish institution in our city has become the target of an attack,” said Krogmann.

The mayor noted that anyone who threw the incendiary must have known that there could have been someone inside, and thus the attack was “attempted murder” and “terrorism.”