He wanted to kill the Jews. This is what it’s about Federal Prosecutor’s Office confident in the trial of the alleged murderer of a Holocaust memorial in Berlin. Nine months after a near-fatal knife attack on a Spanish visitor to a memorial not far from the Brandenburg Gate, the 19-year-old Syrian teenager sat on a dock in Berlin, initially wearing a hat, scarf and sunglasses.
As a cameraman and also a photographer Spanish After leaving the courtroom, the defendant showed his youthful face behind wavy black hair. Wassim Al M. looked gaunt and insecure. He advised his client to first exercise his right to remain silent, explained defense lawyer Daniel Sprafke after the indictment was read before the capital’s District Court.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office assumes that the actions were motivated by radical Islamic and anti-Semitic sentiments. He accused the 19-year-old of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and attempting to become a member of a foreign terrorist organization. On February 21, the defendant reportedly traveled from Saxony to the capital to carry out attacks in the name of the “Islamic State” (ISIS).
The murder weapon was obtained online
Wassim Al M. was a supporter of the ideology of the terrorist organization ISIS, said prosecutor Katrin Fischer when reading out the indictment. Because of this attitude and “driven by the escalation of the Middle East conflict,” he wanted to carry out an attack on someone in the name of ISIS and kill him.
He is said to have obtained the murder weapon – a knife with a blade 16 centimeters long – on the Internet. The goal, according to prosecutors, was “to destroy the life of an unknown victim, if possible of Jewish faith, as a representative of the free society he rejected.”
Shortly before the crime occurred, the 19-year-old teenager sent a photo of himself to ISIS members via a messaging service and offered himself as a member. In fact, he saw “a kind of religious mission,” said senior public prosecutor Michael Neuhaus on the sidelines of the trial. Wassim Al M. experienced radicalization at the latest since 2024.
According to prosecutors, the 19-year-old chose the Holocaust memorial as the crime scene because he assumed he would “most likely meet someone of the Jewish faith” there. The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe by architect Peter Eisenman commemorates the six million Jews murdered under Nazi rule.
Tourists are attacked in the field of stelae
According to prosecutors, he then attacked the Berlin visitor from behind at the Holocaust memorial square at around 6 p.m. The 19 year old teenager made a 14 centimeter incision in the victim’s throat. The man, who is now 31 years old, also suffered a stab wound more than six centimeters long on his face and another on his finger.
After the crime, the attacker is said to have shouted “Allahu Akbar” (in German, “God is great”). According to prosecutors, the 19-year-old believed he had done “everything necessary to kill his victim” and assumed she would die. Based on the investigation, the accused was said to have chased other people inside the memorial with a knife. According to the indictment, the person’s name is unknown.
The victim came from Spain to testify
The victim, who is not Jewish, visited the memorial with friends on February 21, his lawyer Sebastian Sevenich explained on the sidelines of the hearing. A nutritionist from the Basque Country appeared as one of the plaintiffs in the trial and will testify as a witness in court. It is scheduled for December 3, as his lawyer explained.
“Facing that process was definitely stressful for him,” Sevenich said. But his client wanted to deal with it. “He was interested in the background to the crime under investigation,” the lawyer said. “So that we understand exactly why the defendant committed this act.” Wassim Al M. has not made any attempt to apologize.
The Spanish people experienced severe trauma
According to Sevenich, the 31-year-old player is still unable to work due to post-traumatic stress disorder. He also suffered nerve damage from the stab wounds. It is not yet clear whether this condition will subside again. “The fact that he survived this incredibly brutal and massive attack on his life was only thanks to the quick and courageous intervention of others and medical assistance,” the lawyer said. The victim was in an artificial coma for some time.
Arrests around the crime scene
The defendant was arrested several hours after the incident around the memorial. According to authorities, he ran toward police officers around 8:45 p.m. on Feb. 21 while the investigation was still ongoing. They noticed his bloodied hands and blood on his pants, it was said at the time.
In addition to the alleged murder weapon, police officers also found a Koran in his backpack, it was said at the time. The young man was arrested and has been in custody since then.
Without parents in Germany
According to authorities, the 19-year-old teenager came to Germany in 2023 as an unaccompanied refugee minor – that is, without his parents. He is said to have fled Syria via Türkiye to Germany with his younger brother shortly after his 17th birthday. Here he received a temporary residence permit and lived in shared accommodation in Leipzig.
Because the defendant was 19 years old at the time of the crime, the court must decide whether he will be punished under the adult criminal law or under the juvenile criminal law. In cases of conviction of minors, the maximum sentence is 15 years if the court considers the case to be very serious. In adult criminal law, a life sentence can be imposed.
The state protection trial is planned to continue on November 26 with witness examinations. The first Senate charge with presiding judge Doris Husch has so far called about a dozen witnesses, with more to follow, he said. The court has so far planned a total of twelve trial days until January 29, 2026.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:251120-930-315850/8
