German police have arrested a man suspected of attempting to set fire to a synagogue in Wuppertal, western Germany, days before Yom Kippur.

The suspect allegedly threw several bags containing flammable liquid at a side entrance of the Bergische Synagoge and set them alight before fleeing the scene. The flames were extinguished within minutes. No one was injured and the synagogue sustained only minor damage.

Police arrested the suspect shortly afterwards and launched an investigation. Authorities have not yet established a motive for the attack.

The incident occurred during the Jewish High Holiday period, just three days before Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, described the attack as particularly disturbing because it was carried out in broad daylight.

“Once again, during the Jewish High Holidays, there has been an attack on a synagogue,” Schuster told Jüdische Allgemeine.

He said the circumstances demonstrated what he described as the increasing normalisation of antisemitism in Germany, expressing concern over attacks taking place openly and around Jewish holidays.

Schuster also warned that such attacks could contribute to an atmosphere of fear among Jewish communities and pressure Jews to withdraw from public life.

“We will not be deterred,” he said, adding that synagogues would be full for Yom Kippur and that security authorities had a responsibility to protect worshippers.

The attack comes amid a rise in recorded antisemitic incidents in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state where Wuppertal is located. According to the Research and Information Centre on Antisemitism in North Rhine-Westphalia (RIAS NRW), 1,102 antisemitic incidents were documented in the state in 2025, compared with 940 in 2024, an increase of 17%.

Wuppertal has a population of around 360,000 and is home to a Jewish community of approximately 2,500 people.