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Syrian man handed 13-year sentence for Berlin Holocaust memorial stabbing

A Syrian refugee who stabbed a tourist at Berlin's Holocaust memorial last year has been sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of attempted murder, among others, said a Berlin court spokesperson on Thursday.

Reuters
A candle in a glass stands on snow-covered train tracks during a commemoration event for the victims of National Socialism at the Moabit Freight Station Memorial Site (in German: Gedenkort Gueterbahnhof Moabit) in Berlin, Germany, 27 January 2026. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed annually on 27 January.  EPA/CLEMENS BILAN A candle in a glass stands on snow-covered train tracks during a commemoration event for the victims of National Socialism at the Moabit Freight Station Memorial Site (in German: Gedenkort Gueterbahnhof Moabit) in Berlin, Germany, 27 January 2026. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed annually on 27 January. EPA/CLEMENS BILAN

The now 20-year-old Islamic State supporter used a knife to stab a 30-year-old Spanish tourist in the neck at the memorial in the heart of the German capital.

He inflicted life-threatening injuries that required the man to undergo emergency surgery and be placed in an induced coma.

Prosecutors said at the time that the Syrian national appeared to have been planning to kill Jews for several weeks, apparently motivated by the Middle Eastern conflict, which is why he chose the location.

The memorial commemorates the murder of 6 million Jews by Adolf Hitler's Nazis during World War Two.

(Reporting by Miranda Murray, Editing by Linda Pasquini)

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