German Court Convicts Man of Murder Over Synagogue Attack

The defendant Stephan Balliet sits in the courtroom of the district court on the 26th day of the trial before the court's verdict in Magdeburg, Germany, on Dec. 21, 2020. Hendrik Schmidt/Pool via AP

BERLIN—A German court on Monday convicted a right-wing extremist of murder and attempted murder and sentenced him to life in prison for his attack on a synagogue last year on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day. He killed two people after he failed to gain entry to the building.

The Oct. 9, 2019, attack is considered one of the worst anti-Semitic assaults in Germany’s post-war history.