TRANSCRIPT
They're some of the most precious items inside any synagogue.
Torah scrolls were collected and carefully carried away from an active crime scene in the heart of Melbourne's Jewish community.
Just after four o'clock in the morning, residents like Travis Grant woke to see one of Australia's biggest synagogues in flames.
'My bedroom is right on the street. At 4.20, there was some pretty horrific screaming actually. I assume it was people seeing the smoke, and the urgency to try and get emergency services here.'
'What was going through your mind when you heard that screaming?'
'I thought it was people having a fight. That was the sound. But I think it just suggests the urgency people had to try and get emergency services.'
Within ten minutes, fire crews were on the scene.
They battled for nearly an hour to control the blaze at the Adass Israel Synagogue.
One man was slightly injured - but as board member of the synagogue Benjamin Klein points out, the traumatic effect of the fire is more widespread.
'Everyone's very shaken. You have families. There are a couple of hundred members belonging to this synagogue. You have families who are really impacted, there's kids, there's parents. This is the focal point of the community, the jewel in the crown of the community. To see it lying burnt and in ruins is quite horrendous to happen to a quiet community in Melbourne, Australia. You don't expect such things to happen.'
Victoria police say the fire was deliberately lit by two suspects.
Its arson explosives squad is now leading the investigation.
Detective Inspector Chris Murray spoke just hours after the fire was extinguished.
'A witness who was attending morning prayers has entered the synagogue. Upon entering, has seen two individuals wearing masks, for want of a better description. They appear to be spreading an accelerant of some type inside the premises.'
Community leaders say the synagogue is more than just a place for prayer.
It was built by those who fled post-war Europe, and it's become a place of refuge ever since.
Dr Dvir Abramovich is chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission.
'The Holocaust survivors who built this synagogue decades ago, never imagined in their worst nightmares that one day, in 2024 Melbourne, this house of worship will be torched and destroyed, and the smoke coming out from this building is a wake-up call for every Victorian and every Australian.'
There was swift condemnation from both sides of politics, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
'There is no place in Australia for an outrage such as this. To attack a place of worship is an attack on Australian values. To attack a synagogue is an act of antisemitism. It is attacking the right that all Australians should have to practise their faith in peace and security.'
Opposition leader Peter Dutton also says the alleged attack has no place in Australia.
'To see the firebombing of a synagogue, a place of worship, is something that is not welcome, and has no place in our country whatsoever. Today we should double down on our support of the Jewish community who will be feeling this very acutely.'
Israel's ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, denounced what he calls a 'pandemic' of Jew-hatred in the community.
'I strongly condemn the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne today, a heinous act that serves as a chilling reminder that antisemitism is not a relic of the past, but a growing threat that demands immediate actions, not empty words.'
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan also visited the site, pledging $100,000 to help rebuild.
'We condemn this hateful act; this violent act. It was an act of violence as well as an act of hate that we all stand here together and condemn today. Also, what else is an attack on a synagogue, other than an act of antisemitism?'
The premier was heckled as she finished her press conference.
The fury and frustration was palpable, as the Jewish community reels from an act of violence at its very core.
