The suspect in Friday’s attack at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin was motivated by anti-Semitism, German prosecutors said on Saturday, as Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for him to be deported to Syria from prison.
“According to what we know so far, especially based on statements made by the accused to the police, he has been planning to kill Jews for several weeks,” Berlin police said.
The incident had “connections with the Middle East conflict,” the public prosecutor’s office added.
The attack saw a 30-year-old Spanish tourist seriously injured with a knife.
The victim was hospitalized with wounds to his throat and underwent emergency operations. His life is no longer at risk.
Authorities said the suspect, who was apprehended by police hours after the incident, is a 19-year-old Syrian refugee who entered Germany as a minor in 2023.
He is believed to have specifically targeted the Holocaust Memorial in the German capital, which commemorates the approximately 6 million Jews murdered under Nazi rule.
The suspect was also said to be carrying a Koran and a prayer rug in his rucksack, suggesting a religious motive for the attack.
“Whether there is a mental illness is the subject of the investigation,” said police.
Authorities in the eastern state of Saxony, where the suspect lived, said he was known to police for earlier criminal offences.
The 19-year-old is not a repeat or serious offender, according to Saxony’s interior ministry.
He was not obliged to leave the country and was living in shared accommodation in Leipzig, according to dpa information.
Faeser calls for deportation
The incident came just two days before Germany heads to the polls after an election campaign dominated by a series of attacks attributed to foreign nationals.
Interior Minister Faeser expressed her horror at attack, calling for the alleged perpetrator to be punished severely and “deported directly from prison.”
“The knife attack at the Berlin Holocaust Memorial is a heinous and brutal crime,” said Faeser in a statement on Saturday.
“Anyone who commits such offences and abuses protection in Germany in the most disgusting way has forfeited any right to be in our country,” said Faeser.
She announced that she would use all avenues “to deport violent offenders back to Syria.”
Faeser wished the injured man a speedy recovery and thanked the Berlin police and emergency services.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner also condemned the “cowardly” attack. “It is clear to me that anyone who wants protection in Germany does not attack people with a knife.”
“I expect the next federal government to ensure that such perpetrators lose their protected status and have to leave our country quickly,” the mayor continued.
Berlin’s interior senator, Iris Spranger, denounced the attack and said she hoped the victim would recover.
“An attempted murder offence with suspected anti-Semitic motivation at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe – that is intolerable,” she said.
After the attack at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, the area is still cordoned off. Paul Zinken/dpa
