Historic synagogue in Australian outback vandalized

A historic synagogue in the Australian outback mining city of Broken Hill is defaced with Nazi and Islamic symbols on its 105th anniversary.

The curator of the synagogue, Margaret Price, says she arrived at work Monday to prepare for a visit by tourists and found the front of the building had been vandalized with the symbols and slogans.

“We are dismayed by this scurrilous attack on the building on the very day of its 105th anniversary,” Price, the coordinator of the Synagogue of the Outback Museum, tells JTA.

Price says the synagogue, which is under the ownership of the Broken Hill Historical Society, was vandalized about 10 years ago, when it was painted with swastikas on Hitler’s birthday. In 2010, a local bookstore that featured Hanukkah material in its window also was defaced with Nazi symbols.

“Although there is no Jewish presence in the city these days, I grew up with Jews and my family worked with them,” Price says. “They were Broken Hillers and a strong part of our community.”

The Broken Hill Synagogue was established in 1910 to meet the spiritual needs of a small but vibrant Jewish community serving the booming mining town. When the mining boom slowed down, most of the Jewish community left.

— JTA