Syrian man jailed 13 years for stabbing tourist at Berlin Holocaust memorial

A German court has sentenced a Syrian man to 13 years in prison after convicting him of stabbing a tourist in front of the Holocaust Memorial in the German capital, Berlin, in an attack that authorities said was “motivated by extremist Islamist ideology and anti-Semitism.”

The attack occurred two days before Germany’s legislative elections in February 2025, amid heightened security tensions following a series of knife attacks and vehicle-ramming incidents in the country, some of which were carried out by foreign attackers.

According to the court proceedings, the defendant, Wassim L. M., who was 19 years old at the time of the incident, carried out the attack in front of the memorial dedicated to the Jewish Holocaust, in which about six million Jews were killed by the Nazi regime.

The defendant was convicted of attempted murder, causing serious bodily harm, and attempting to join a terrorist organization, after it was determined that he carried out the attack in the name of ISIS, according to the public prosecutor.

Presiding judge Doris Hosh stated that the defendant caused the victim a Spanish tourist in his thirties a “deep and open wound.” The victim managed to escape before losing consciousness near the memorial. He was then rushed to the hospital and placed in an induced coma.

The court explained that the victim, who was not Jewish, participated in the trial as a civil party after surviving the serious injury.

The Syrian defendant, who has been legally residing in Germany since 2023 after arriving as an unaccompanied minor, admitted to carrying out the attack.

The defendant’s age became a key issue during the trial, as German law allows individuals aged 18 to 20 to be tried under juvenile law if they are deemed not fully mature, which would limit the maximum sentence to 10 years.

However, the prosecution requested that adult criminal law be applied in this case and sought life imprisonment. The court partially accepted this request, ultimately sentencing the defendant to 13 years in prison.

ANHA