BERLIN, Germany — A 19-year-old Syrian went on trial in Berlin on Thursday over a knife attack on a Spanish tourist at the German capital’s Holocaust memorial days before February’s general election.
The suspect, partially named as Wassim Al M., is accused of being a supporter of the Islamic State group who intended to “target a person of the Jewish faith,” according to the court.
He allegedly approached the 30-year-old victim from behind among the concrete steles of the memorial and “inflicted a 14-centimeter-long (more than five inches) cut to his throat with a knife,” the court said in a statement before the trial.
The victim, who was visiting the memorial with two friends, was badly injured but managed to stagger out of the steles before collapsing in front of the memorial.
A police officer told the court he was on duty outside the US embassy, near the memorial, when he heard people crying for the police.
“I went over and saw the victim clutching his throat,” the officer said, recalling that a passer-by had phoned emergency services.
“The attacked tourist turned pale and his eyes closed” while they were waiting for an ambulance, he said.
General view of the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe in central Berlin, Germany, June 17, 2011. (AP/Markus Schreiber, File)
Prosecutors told the court that Wassim Al M. had “internalized IS ideology, rejected the Western way of life, and was convinced that a holy war against infidels must be waged worldwide.”
He shouted “Allahu akbar,” or God is the greatest, after the attack, the court was told.
The suspect had travelled to Berlin from his home in the eastern city of Leipzig, according to the court, motivated by his support for IS and “driven by the escalation of the Middle East conflict.”
‘Religious mission’
Shortly before carrying out the attack, he allegedly sent a photo of himself to members of IS via a messaging service and offered his services as an IS member.
Wassim Al M. “wanted to kill,” prosecutor Michael Neuhaus told AFP on the sidelines of the trial.
“He had become radicalized in line with IS ideology…, believed he had a religious mission, wanted to send a message against liberal society and against Jews,” Neuhaus said.
The suspect was arrested at the scene with blood stains on his hands. He was carrying a copy of the Quran and a prayer rug, police said at the time.
An armed police officer works at the cordoned off scene where a person was stabbed near the memorial of the murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin on February 21, 2025. (Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)
The assault shocked Germany two days before February’s general election after a campaign centered heavily on immigration and security fueled by a series of deadly stabbing and car ramming attacks carried out by migrants.
Germany is home to around a million Syrians — many of whom arrived during the huge influx of refugees that peaked in 2015 under former chancellor Angela Merkel.
Since the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad in December, debate has grown heated around whether they should return to Syria.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in particular has called for them to go home, highlighting a recent spate of high-profile violent crimes.
The government is in talks with Syria’s new Islamist-led government to resume deportations of violent criminals.
