Flames destroy part of Warsaw shul

NEW YORK, Feb. 26 (JTA) — The only active synagogue in Warsaw has been damaged in what appears to be an arson attack. The Tuesday fire was caused by two cans of flammable liquid that were ignited and thrown into central Warsaw’s Nozyk synagogue, police said. The fire wrecked the synagogue’s old main entrance and left a large vestibule charred and littered with debris. Police said the cause of the blaze was probably arson. One person was treated for smoke inhalation. A day earlier, a bomb threat was made to a building adjacent to the 1,000-member synagogue. Police searched that building, used by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, a Jewish educational charity, but found nothing. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski condemned the attack as well as violence against the Jewish community in general. Jewish officials pointed out that during the last few days, Polish media has been devoting air time to the country’s new law on returning property to the Jewish community. Last year, a bomb smashed windows of Warsaw’s kosher restaurant, also near the synagogue. The motive for that attack has not been explained.