After a large police operation at the synagogue in Hagen, there were four arrests, according to the police. The North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) initially only confirmed the arrest of a Syrian youth on Thursday morning on the sidelines of a swearing-in ceremony for prospective police officers in Cologne. "There was a risk of an attack on the synagogue in Hagen," said Reul. "Your colleagues probably prevented that." He announced a detailed statement on the case for 1 pm. From security circles it was said that a 16-year-old Syrian was suspected of having prepared an explosives attack on the synagogue in Hagen. The public prosecutor's office in Düsseldorf is investigating the young person on suspicion of preparing a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state.

Pure burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht spoke of a "very serious threat situation".

The incident awakens horrific memories of the attack on the synagogue in Halle two years ago, said the SPD politician on Thursday, according to a statement from her ministry.

“It is unbearable that Jews are once again exposed to such a terrible threat and that the beginning of their highest festival, Yom Kippur, cannot be peacefully celebrated together.” The fight against anti-Semitism in its various forms is of the utmost importance.

It is the duty of the state to do everything to protect Jews.

"Now it is up to the police and the judiciary to clarify the background to this very serious threat situation," said Lambrecht.

Lambrecht: "Unbearable"

Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht spoke of a "very serious threat situation". The incident awakens horrific memories of the attack on the synagogue in Halle two years ago, said the SPD politician on Thursday, according to a statement from her ministry. “It is unbearable that Jews are once again exposed to such a terrible threat and that the beginning of their highest festival, Yom Kippur, cannot be peacefully celebrated together.” The fight against anti-Semitism in its various forms is of the utmost importance. It is the duty of the state to do everything to protect Jews. "Now it is up to the police and the judiciary to clarify the background to this very serious threat situation," said Lambrecht.

On Wednesday, the synagogue in Hagen was screened extensively, and the police also searched the apartment in which the young person is said to be living with his father. As the Spiegel reports, the security authorities are said to have been made aware of the youth by a foreign secret service, who behaved suspiciously on the Internet. The young person is said to have spoken to a chat partner about an explosive attack on a Jewish place of worship. The reason for the possible attack is said to have been the beginning of the highest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur.

The major action to secure the Hagen synagogue was completed during the night.

A Yom Kippur service planned for Wednesday evening was canceled at short notice.

On Thursday morning, the police said that “no evidence of a hazard was found”.

The Central Office for Tracking Terrorism in North Rhine-Westphalia is also involved in the investigation.

This was confirmed by the Public Prosecutor's Office in Düsseldorf.

More details could not be given yet, as announced senior public prosecutor Benjamin Kluck.

From security circles it was said that the Attorney General was also involved.