A Syrian man has been convicted of stabbing a Spanish tourist at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial

Berlin — A court on Thursday convicted and sentenced a Syrian man to 13 years in prison for stabbing and seriously injuring a Spanish tourist at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial a year ago.

The 20-year-old suspect, identified by authorities only as Wasim al-M in accordance with German privacy laws, was found guilty of charges including attempted murder and attempted membership in a foreign terrorist organization, German news agency dpa reported.

The Berlin District Court found that he had traveled from Leipzig to Berlin on Feb. 21, 2025, to carry out the attack in the name of the Islamic State group.

He chose the Holocaust memorial because “he believed he would find people of the Jewish faith there,” presiding judge Doris Hush said, and stabbed a Spanish tourist in the throat before shouting “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great.”

The 31-year-old victim survived but is still unable to work and is receiving psychiatric treatment.

The defendant said during his trial that he immediately regretted the attack and claimed he had traveled to Berlin under pressure from an online acquaintance he had learned from watching IS videos.

Investigators said the suspect arrived in Germany as a minor in 2023 and successfully applied for asylum. He lived in Leipzig. He was arrested about three hours after the attack when he approached officers with blood on his hands and clothes.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a field of 2,700 gray concrete slabs near the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin, honors the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

The attack came two days before a national election in which immigration is a crucial issue, pushed to the fore by a series of deadly attacks involving migrants in the months leading up to the vote.