Munich – A 30-year-old tourist from Mexico has been in Munich for two weeks. He wants to stay for a total of eight weeks and explore the city and the surrounding area.
He would never have thought that he would be attacked in Germany of all places because of his kippah. He only put it on briefly on the night of Thursday, December 14th – on the way home from a bar, when he was on the phone with a religious friend and also turned on the camera. That’s why a group of six people attacked him, he says. His name will not be mentioned here for security reasons.
“People approached when I was on the video call because they saw me with the kippah. At first I didn’t really pay attention to them, I was still talking and I didn’t know them. But then they stood in front of me,” he reports Mexicans talking to BR in English. The group asked him questions about where he was from and whether he was Jewish. “The next thing I know, they beat me up on the sidewalk, probably with a fist in the face and ribs. There were six people, one threw a punch, I saw that. And I tried to escape “I ran into the street and tried to take cover.”
The BR has a photo showing the man’s injuries. Clearly visible scratches and traces of blood can be seen on the face.
After the attack, the tourist asked a passerby for help and she immediately called the police, said the Mexican. The officers on site then alerted the emergency services, who took the tourist to a hospital for outpatient treatment.
According to the Munich police, the suspected attackers are now being investigated for grievous bodily harm. Accordingly, these are German, Eritrean, Syrian and Yemeni nationals. But investigations are also underway against the Jew who was attacked: for bodily harm. The 30-year-old says he was just defending himself. “What else was I supposed to do?” he asks. Two people from the group were slightly injured.
The police assume that the violent actions of the six-member group have an antisemitic background. The case is now also before the antisemitism commissioner of the Bavarian judiciary, Andreas Franck. This is common when the incidents are “of particular significance and national significance,” says Franck. In response to a BR query, the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that since October 7, the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, 119 proceedings relating to events in the Middle East have been initiated.
Senior public prosecutor Sebastian Murer explains: “These proceedings have not yet been completed, so it is not yet possible to make a statement about the motivation for the crime. However, it can be assumed that a large proportion of these crimes – which include public endorsement of Hamas terror – are antisemitic motivated.”
