Three synagogues, two in Alsatia and one in south France, were ransacked over the weekend. Windows were broken. books and Torah scrolls thrown on the ground and swastikas painted on the walls.
One of the synagogues at Salestat was ransacked sometime between last night and this morning and the other at Cronenbourg, near Strasbourg, Saturday night. At Antibes, in the south of France, vandals also broke desks, chairs and ornaments. In all three cases the police believe that right wing fringe elements are responsible for the profanations.
Jewish community leaders openly express anxiety over the recent increase in anti-Semitic attacks which included a bomb explosion at a Jewish student canteen in Paris last month causing injuries to more than 30 persons.
The Strasbourg community is organizing a mass demonstration next Saturday to ask for increased police protection, and in Lyons a meeting will be held Thursday to protest against the forthcoming congress in that city of the extreme right-wing New Europe movement. Police officials told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that all measures will be taken to try and ensure the safety of Jewish property in the country.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
