Anti-Semitic motive

Attack in Berlin: Syrian (19) wanted to “kill Jews”

A tourist suffered life-threatening injuries in the knife attack by a Syrian at the Holocaust memorial. The authorities assume that the suspected perpetrator had an anti-Semitic motive.(Bild: AP)

Following the bloody attack on a 30-year-old Spanish tourist in the field of stelae at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, the Berlin public prosecutor's office is assuming an anti-Semitic motive. A 19-year-old recognized refugee from Syria is suspected, according to the authorities.

The man was arrested in the vicinity of the memorial on Friday evening a few hours after the attack. The victim is now in a stable condition.

"According to previous investigations and the current state of knowledge, there should be connections with the Middle East conflict," the public prosecutor's office announced. "According to what we know so far, in particular based on statements made by the accused to the police, the plan to kill Jews is said to have been maturing in him for several weeks."

The choice of the crime scene was also made against this background. The memorial in the historic center of Berlin commemorates the six million Jews who were murdered under the rule of the National Socialists.

Koran and prayer rug in the rucksack
There is also said to have been a religious motivation. In addition to the knife as the suspected murder weapon, the man also had a Koran, a piece of paper with verses from the Koran and a prayer rug in his rucksack.

(Bild: AFP)

(Bild: AP)

The suspect is to be brought before a magistrate on Saturday. The man lived in refugee accommodation in Leipzig. Emergency services searched the facility in the morning.

Victim in stable condition
The 19-year-old is suspected of attacking the Spaniard from behind with a knife and inflicting life-threatening injuries to his neck. The 30-year-old had to undergo emergency surgery and was temporarily placed in an induced coma. It was reported that his life was no longer in danger. After the attack, several people who had witnessed the incident were also attended to by emergency services.

During the police operation, the suspected perpetrator reportedly ran towards the officers. They noticed his bloodstained hands and trousers. They then arrested the man. The 19-year-old is said to have arrived in Germany in 2023 as an unaccompanied minor refugee.

(Bild: AP)

He made a clear impression during the arrest, they said. "Whether there is a mental illness is the subject of the investigation." There were no indications of links to other persons or organizations. The accused had not previously had any criminal convictions in Berlin and was not known to the police or the judiciary.

Several fatal attacks before the election
In recent weeks and months, there have been several fatal attacks in Germany, albeit with different backgrounds. The issue of migration then dominated the German parliamentary election campaign. On February 13, for example, a 24-year-old Afghan drove a car into a demonstration in Munich. A two-year-old girl and her 37-year-old mother later died in hospital, and at least 37 other people suffered injuries, some of them serious.

In a park in Aschaffenburg, a 28-year-old Afghan is said to have attacked people he apparently did not know with a knife in January. A two-year-old boy of Moroccan origin and a 41-year-old German died. Shortly before Christmas, a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia drove a car through the Christmas market in Magdeburg. Six people lost their lives and almost 300 were injured.