Deadly synagogue attack in 2019 was warning to Germany, minister says

The deadly 2019 far-right extremist attack on a synagogue in the city of Halle deeply shook Germany and was a warning to the country, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Tuesday.

Speaking on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the attack, Faeser stressed that protecting Jewish life and institutions in Germany remains a top priority for police and security services.

In the Halle attack on October 9, 2019, an armed neo-Nazi tried to break into the city's synagogue on the high Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

The attacker failed to break through the synagogue's locked door, despite multiple attempts. He fatally shot a passer-by, and then opened fire into a nearby kebab shop, killing a customer there.

The culprit is serving a life sentence in prison for two counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder.

Faeser on Tuesday also invoked a spike in anti-Semitic incidents in Germany during the year since the deadly October 7 attacks on Israel launched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"We stand by the Jewish communities and Jews in Germany - especially in the face of the disgusting hostility they are experiencing," Faeser said.

"We must continue to counter the murderous violence caused by right-wing extremism and right-wing terrorism, hatred of Jews and racism with all the means available to our constitutional state," she said.