Germany: Man Attacks Jewish Student with Shovel

A Jewish student was left seriously injured after he was attacked by a man wielding a shovel outside a synagogue in northern Germany on Sunday, 4 October.

According to reports, the alleged perpetrator – identified as a 29-year-old German man of Kazakh origin – repeatedly struck the 26-year-old student on the head with the shovel outside the Hohe Weide synagogue in Hamburg.

Escaping from the perpetrator, the heavily wounded student was administered first aid by passers-by. He was then taken to a hospital, and is expected to recover.

The attack – denounced as an act of anti-Semitism by the German government – coincided with the Jewish holiday, Sukkot, which saw believers gathering at the synagogue to partake in a service.

Per a police statement, officers assigned to protect the synagogue after the attack managed to arrest the suspect, who appeared to be in a “confused state”.

He was also apparently dressed in German military clothes and had a hand-drawn swastika in his pocket.

The case is being treated as “attempted murder with grievous bodily harm.”