A Berlin man was charged for trying to stab a person wearing a Star of David necklace in June, the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office announced.
The 29-year-old suspect allegedly encountered the victim wearing the necklace and a shirt also emblazoned with a Star of David in Gleisdreieck Park on June 20.
The suspect called the 60-year-old victim a “child murderer” and drew a knife. He then charged toward the victim, stating that he wanted to kill the victim because he had “blood on his hands.”
Three police officers intervened with firearms drawn, preventing the victim from being wounded.
The suspect was charged on Tuesday with attempted dangerous bodily harm and threats, and the prosecutor’s office was treating the incident as motivated by antisemitism.
Antisemitism in Germany hits record high: 8,627 cases
According to a Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism report issued 16 days prior to the stabbing attack, there were a total of 8,627 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2024. This represented a 77% increase compared to 2023.
Some 2,496 of these incidents were in Berlin. Incidents included a Jewish student being severely beaten by a peer while leaving a bar at the beginning of 2024, and in May of that year, a man wearing a backpack with a “I stand with Israel” patch being told, “If you come back, you bastard, you’ll get the same treatment as your Jewish friends.”