A Polish police officer stands guard outside the Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw on May 1, 2024, after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the building. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP)
Polish authorities on Wednesday condemned an attempted arson attack against a Warsaw synagogue.
Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, quoting the country’s chief rabbi, said that “someone tried to set fire to the Nozyk synagogue with a Molotov cocktail.”
“Thank God no one was hurt,” the minister added in a post on X, the former Twitter.
An AFP journalist who went to the scene saw a black stain across a window that appeared to have been caused by flames. But there was no major damage to the synagogue.
Poland’s chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, could not be immediately contacted. Warsaw police said they had investigators at the scene.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
Sikorski’s message questioned who would have carried out the attack on the 20th anniversary of Poland’s membership of the European Union.
Traces of flames are seen on the facade of the Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw on May 1, 2024, after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the building. (Sergei GAPON / AFP)
“Maybe the same ones who scrawled the Stars of David in Paris?” he said.
French prosecutors started an investigation after several dozen Jewish symbols were daubed on buildings in Paris in October as tensions increased with Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which erupted with the terrorist organization’s unprecedented attack, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 253 were taken hostage.
Advertisement
France believes that Russian security services were behind the vandalism, an official French source said, but Russia denied any involvement.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
