A Syrian national, Khalaf A., was arrested in Berlin on Wednesday for alleged aiding and abetting attempted murder at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin in 2025.
Khalaf A. is suspected of being an accessory to attempted murder and bodily harm, federal prosecutors said.
The attack itself was carried out by an accomplice, Wassim Al M., who assaulted a man with a knife next to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in central Berlin on the evening of February 21, 2025. The victim suffered life-threatening injuries.
The prosecutor said this was "motivated by radical Islamist and antisemitic beliefs."
The afternoon before the attack, Khalaf A. had met with Wassim Al M. to plan the attack and encourage the latter to go through with it.
Wassim Al M. was sentenced by the Berlin Higher Regional Court in March to 13 years in prison for the offense, including attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm.
Accomplice to be brought before federal court
Khalaf A. was brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice on Wednesday.
The judge will formally inform Khalaf A. of the arrest warrant and decide on the execution of pre-trial detention.
There is not much available information about the victim, except for the fact that he was a 30-year-old Spanish tourist from Bilbao.
After being taken to the hospital with serious wounds to his neck, the victim underwent an operation and was put into an induced coma. He survived the ordeal.
The Federal Commissioner for Victims and Victims’ Commissioner of the State of Berlin, Roland Weber, stated at the time that “The brutal knife attack last Friday at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin was a deeply inhumane and disturbing act."