Kiev’s Oldest Synagogue Hit by Firebomb
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Kiev’s oldest synagogue was the target of a firebomb that burst into flames outside the building.
The firebombing at the Great Choral Synagogue on Sept. 24, the eve of Rosh Hashanah, did not cause damage, according to the news website evreiskiy.kiev.ua, which belongs to the Jewish Kiev watchdog on anti-Semitism.
Police suspect that an arsonist targeting the actual building hurled the firebomb — a glass bottle filled with a flammable substance.
The operator of a restaurant that operates nearby reported a fire at the synagogue to police, according to the report.
The synagogue, which is also known as the Podil Synagogue, was reconstructed in 1915.
In a separate incident, a swastika was painted on the Holocaust memorial monument at Babi Yar in Kiev, where Nazi troops murdered more than 33,000 in September 1941. The Nazi symbol was discovered on the monument on Sept. 23, the news channel 112 Ukraine reported.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
