Syrian Teen on Trial for Slitting Spanish Tourist’s Throat in Alleged Anti-Semitic Attempted Murder at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial

A 19-year-old Syrian man is on trial in Berlin, accused of slitting the throat of a Spanish tourist in what prosecutors say was an anti-Semitic attempted murder at the city’s Holocaust Memorial earlier this year.

Prosecutors allege that the defendant, Wassim Al M., was driven by jihadist ideology and a belief that he had a “religious mandate” to kill.

The defendant, who arrived in Germany as an unaccompanied minor and applied for asylum in 2023, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and attempted membership in a foreign terrorist organization.

According to prosecutors cited by Welt, the Syrian bought a curved 16-centimeter knife shortly before the attack and travelled from Leipzig to Berlin with the intention of killing a Jew. On Feb. 21, he allegedly approached 30-year-old Spanish tourist Iker B. M. from behind and slashed his throat at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The victim suffered a 14-centimeter wound to the neck, as well as deep cuts to his cheek and hand while trying to escape. Witnesses reported hearing the migrant teen shout “Allahu Akbar” as he pursued his victim through the memorial.

Chief Public Prosecutor Michael Neuhaus told the court that the defendant had embraced the “Salafist-jihadist ideology” of ISIS and wanted to contribute to what he believed was a global “holy war.” Neuhaus said Wassim Al M. blamed Jews for the world’s suffering and deliberately chose the Holocaust Memorial because he expected to encounter Jewish visitors there.

Prosecutors argue that the Gaza war acted as the trigger for the attack, motivating him to carry out what they described as a “message against the free society in which we live.”

The victim’s lawyer, Sebastian Sevenich, said his client survived only thanks to rapid intervention by passersby and emergency responders. The Spanish national continues to suffer from nerve damage and PTSD, leaving him unable to work. “He was very seriously injured, critically injured,” Sevenich said, describing “a brutal, massive attack” from which his client is still recovering.

Police officers who responded to the scene testified on the first day of the trial, recalling the collapsed victim and chaotic attempts to track the attacker. The suspect was arrested shortly after the attack with blood-smeared hands and clothes.

The defendant has chosen not to comment on the charges. Proceedings are being translated for him in Arabic, and he remains in pretrial detention at a Berlin juvenile facility.

The trial is ongoing with a verdict expected in January.