Berlin Police Arrest Suspect in Holocaust Memorial Stabbing
German authorities arrested a Syrian national accused of encouraging his compatriot who stabbed a Spanish tourist at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial in February 2025, just before national elections.
The suspect, identified only as Khalaf A. under German privacy regulations, was arrested in the German capital on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors have charged him with being an accessory to attempted murder and bodily harm stemming from the February 21, 2025 stabbing attack.
Prosecutors allege that Khalaf A. spent the afternoon before the assault with the convicted attacker, Wassim Al M., and actively encouraged him to proceed with his violent plans. Both men are Syrian nationals.
Convicted Attacker Received 13-Year Sentence
Wassim Al M. was convicted in March on multiple charges including attempted murder and attempted membership in a foreign terrorist organization. The Berlin district court sentenced him to 13 years imprisonment after determining he had traveled from Leipzig to the capital specifically to carry out an attack in the name of the Islamic State.
According to presiding judge Doris Husch, Wassim Al M. deliberately targeted the Holocaust Memorial because he believed he would encounter Jewish visitors there. The attacker stabbed the Spanish tourist in the throat before shouting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”
Attack Occurred Days Before National Election
The stabbing took place merely two days before Germany’s national election, a contest in which migration policy had emerged as a dominant issue following a series of deadly attacks involving immigrants in the preceding months.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe consists of 2,700 gray concrete slabs situated near the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin. The monument honors the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
With information from Breitbart News
