A man wearing a Star of David pendant and cap was attacked in a Berlin park in what investigators suspect was a right-wing hate crime.

The unidentified victim, 67, was sitting with a friend on a bench in Berlin’s Tiergarten park on Monday afternoon when two men approached and began to harass him, he said. The assailants then repeatedly punched him. He was treated in a hospital for multiple lacerations to the head.

The assailants were able to flee.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Deidre Berger, director of the Berlin office of American Jewish Committee, said in a statement that anti-Semitic attacks in Germany are becoming more common and urged political leaders to implement and support programs designed to combat the trend.

“For three years, the recommendations of an independent commission of experts [on anti-Semitism] convened by the federal government have sat unused in a drawer,” Berger noted, adding that proven programs such as Berlin’s “Kreuzberg Initiative Against Anti-Semitism” – which reaches out especially to youth – are struggling to survive.

In April, a young Israeli living in the capital was beaten outside his apartment in broad daylight by six young men who identified themselves as Palestinian.

In August 2012, Berlin-based Rabbi Daniel Alter was attacked in front of his home by a group of youths who also threatened to kill his young daughter. The youths, reported to be of Middle-Eastern origin, asked Alter – who wore a yarmulke – if he was Jewish. He required surgery to repair a broken cheekbone.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount