U.S. condemns two arson attacks on historic synagogue in Crete

An ancient, but very small community of Jews living on the Greek Island of Crete were working hard to restore damage done by an arsonist on January 5 to the historic synagogue known as Etz-Hayyim. Now, a second attack has destroyed 2,000 precious books.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. has strongly condemned the second torching of a historic synagogue on the Island of Crete calling it an example of anti-Semitic action designed to terrorize Greece’s Jewish community. “We strongly condemn the January 5 and January 16 arson attacks on the Etz-Hayyim Synagogue in the city of Chania on the island of Crete,” a state department spokesman said on Wednesday. “The Synagogue dates back to the Middle Ages and is one of the last Jewish monuments on the island. An attack on the Etz-Hayyim Synagogue is an attack on Greece’s history and heritage,” said a press release issued Wednesday evening. “The second attack caused severe damage to the Synagogue, destroying nearly 2,000 books and severely damaging the building’s wooden roof,” the state department spokesman said. The small Jewish community on the Island had worked hard to try and restore some of the damage done in a January 5 attack when the second attack occurred in the middle of the night, according to a blog on the synagogue’s website. “This attack was clearly intended to intimidate and terrorize Greece’s Jewish community and is only the latest of several incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism throughout Greece over the past few years,” said state department spokesman Mark C. Toner. “We applaud the Greek government for condemning these attacks and taking a strong stand against anti-Semitism and racism,” said Toner in a statement sent by email. “Our Embassy in Athens is in contact with the Synagogue. Embassy officials will be meeting with their Greek counterparts to underscore U.S. concern over this incident.” A blog on the website of the synagogue said community members had scraped, primed, polished and oiled some of the wood work and marble flooring when the second attack took place. “On the night of Friday, January 15, after more than a week of work on the sanctuary – newly scraped, primed and re-painted; the wood-work oiled with lavender and the marble floor polished – we met for Erev Shabbat prayers and Kiddush,” said the blog. “Later we locked the synagogue and returned to our homes feeling that we had set our steps forward. Saturday morning at 3:30 AM however the Synagogue’s director was wakened by the alarm that had been set off in the Synagogue and rushed there accompanied by two helpers to find the entire main office ablaze.” “They began putting out the fire with the garden hose as the firemen had not yet succeeded in getting their hoses connected. When the mains were finally connected the firemen set to work – by 4:45 the fire was only smoldering and all that remained of the upper and lower office was completely gutted,” said a news blog. “Everything in the main office – e.g. two computers, complete Talmud, Midraschim, 2 sets of Rashi lexicons (Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew) plus many reference books and the entire archive of theSynagogue have all been destroyed. “By noon the Siphrei Torah along with all of the silver ornaments (rimonim, tassim, yads etc.) and a precious early 17th century illuminated Qur’an were removed to a secure location. It was a sad moment to see them being taken away from the Kal as it was a joyous moment when they had been installed in 1999. But we are determined that they will come back!” - Those wishing to donate to rebuild the synagogue can go here.