Horror as Jewish cantor is murdered in Bavaria

The former opera singer Nikola David has been named as the victim of a violent crime in Augsburg on Friday. Police say there did not appear to be an anti-semitic motivation.

David, who came from Novi Sad in Serbia, sang Tamino at the national theatre in Belgrade, before moving to Germany. From 2000 to 2008, he was a soloist at the opera houses in Augsburg and Dessau.

Then he met a rabbi who persuaded him to train for a career as Germany’s first post-war professional synagogue cantor. At the time of his death, aged 55, Nikola was head cantor of the liberal Jewish community Beth Shalom in Munich and Stuttgart. Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Bavarian Jewish community, wrote: “My thoughts in the midst of this tragedy are with his family. His death marks a painful loss for the Jewish community in Munich.’

The police investigation continues. UPDATE: The victim’s son has been arrested.