Antwerp Terrorist Attack, 1981

Antwerp, Belgium
20 October, 1981

Exactly a year after a similar bombing of a synagogue in Paris, a bomb exploded outside a synagogue in Antwerp, killing three and wounding 106 people. (NY Times)

The Palestinian terror group Black September, which also carried out the attack at the Munich Olympics, placed a bomb inside a truck parked outside the building. It was detonated in the morning of Simchat Torah, blowing in the doors of the synagogue as well as storefront windows along the street. Eight buildings were significantly damaged. (UPI)

The synagogue was located in the middle of the Antwerp diamond district, so the explosion also scattered diamonds amidst the debris. Police closed down the street and gathered the rubble so that diamond brokers could sift through to find the gems.

"Survivors told of scores of injured, stumbling through clouds of smoke and dust, blood streaming from their faces and dead and injured on the street." (Reading Eagle)


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