When Jonathan K.* left his apartment on Friday afternoon to walk his dog in the Gleisdreieck park in Kreuzberg, he had no idea that he would soon have to fear for his life. As usual, the 60-year-old, who is not Jewish, wore his Star of David necklace in solidarity and, on this summer day, also wore a T-shirt with the symbol of the people of Israel and Judaism on his chest.
Shortly after entering the park, he is subjected to anti-Semitic abuse, as he says he is every day. “Free Palestine,” a group of young women shout at him as he walks past the ping-pong tables near Kreuzberg’s Möckernkiez neighborhood. Jonathan has practically ignored the daily insults he encounters on the streets of Kreuzberg. Whether from a car or on the sidewalk, the man is confronted with shouts of “child murderer!” and accusations of genocide almost daily.
But what happened in the park on that sunny Friday far exceeded even his previous experiences. As he briefly passed the boules court, a young man wearing a keffiyeh walked past him. He suddenly turned around, noticed Jonathan’s Star of David, and began to scream. “You murderer! Get out of here!” he shouted, giving Jonathan the middle finger and pulling a knife from his trouser pocket.
The man also shouted that Jonathan had blood on his hands. An accusation that is not uncommon for Jonathan. But the tone and anger that could be heard were unusual even for him. As the Tagesspiegel also learned, the man is said to have compared Jonathan’s Star of David to the swastika.
When the 60-year-old could no longer calm the armed man and, after establishing a safe distance, he called the police. But this only seemed to further enrage the furious keffiyeh wearer. Only his dog and a few meters separated him from the armed man.
Shortly thereafter, the man ran toward Jonathan with a drawn knife, chased him, made stabbing movements, and threatened his life and that of his dog: “I’ll stab you! I’ll stab the dog!” he shouted, among other things. And he did all this so loudly that several visitors to the park could clearly hear him.
A park visitor filmed excerpts of the scene. The video was shared on the platform X. There, too, a man can be seen running after Jonathan, shouting, among other things, “You child murderer!” The dog appears nervous, growling and barking at the attacker.
The police arrived almost simultaneously. An off-duty police officer also witnessed the incident, allowing her to quickly lead the alerted officers to the scene. At the same time, several calls came in to the police. The emergency services had to resort to almost the utmost of their resources. Arriving in the midst of a threatening situation, one officer drew his firearm and confronted the attacker with a determined shooting stance, a police spokeswoman reported.
Only shortly afterwards did the man throw the knife away. According to the spokeswoman, the 29-year-old has been in a psychiatric facility since Saturday. He is said to have been unknown to the police. As with other anti-Semitic crimes, the State Security Unit of the State Criminal Police Office (LKA), which is responsible for politically motivated crimes, is investigating this case.
The 29-year-old is accused of attempted grievous bodily harm, threats, and insults. According to Tagesspiegel, the man is an Austrian citizen and has a non-European migration background.
Even a day after the incident, Jonathan is still visibly affected. “That was just the tip of the iceberg,” he told the Tagesspiegel. Looking back, he is particularly disappointed by the lack of civil courage shown by other park visitors. The attacker, he says, shouted anti-Semitic slogans at him loudly for several minutes, and no one intervened. A civil courage that he also sees far too often missing on Berlin’s streets when it comes to anti-Semitism.
Despite the traumatic experience, Jonathan and his wife subsequently went to the weekly vigil on Fraenkelufer. People gather there every Friday evening for Erev Shabbat to support the Jewish community and ensure safe passage to services.
