Two antisemitic attacks were reported at metro stations in Berlin this week, with one attack targeting a rabbi and his son and another targeting a young man, according to police.
On Wednesday afternoon, a 33-year-old man reported an antisemitic attack on an S-Bahn train in Charlottenburg-Nord. Shortly after the man boarded the train, a passenger made antisemitic remarks at him. When he objected, the stranger grabbed his arm.
The man pushed the stranger away and a second stranger came and, together with the first attacker, began punching the 33-year-old in the head and upper body, lightly injuring him.
Another passenger intervened and the victim exited the train, while the two attackers continued their ride.
State Security Police have taken over the investigation into dangerous bodily harm, insult and hate speech.
Rabbi and his son attacked near metro station
The attack comes just days after Ariel Kirzon, state rabbi of the Jewish community in Potsdam, and his son were targeted by an antisemitic attack after exiting an underground station in Westphalweg on Tuesday.
Kirzon was speaking on his phone in Hebrew to the Israeli embassy and wearing tzitzit when he exited the station, according to the German newspaper Bild.
"So I was clearly recognizable as a Jew when suddenly an Arab-looking man insulted and attacked me. He yelled 'Jude', raised his hands, grabbed me. Every moment I thought he would strike," said the rabbi to Bild.
Kirzon added that when he went to the police station to report the incident he was told "You'll have to wait an hour. The staff are busy."
State Security Police stated that they have opened an investigation into the incident and has secured security camera footage from the station.
The attack comes just days after Ariel Kirzon, state rabbi of the Jewish community in Potsdam, and his son Levi, an American citizen, were targeted by an antisemitic attack after exiting an underground station in Westphalweg on Tuesday.
Kirzon told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that he was speaking on his phone in Hebrew to the Israeli embassy and wearing tzitzit when he exited the station.
“We were on the way to the doctor, as my son had an appointment,” he told the Post, “I received an anticipated call from the Israeli Embassy and therefore was speaking in Hebrew,” he explained.
“We were about to go up an escalator and then somebody pushed me so hard, he literally turned me around. I was in shock. I didn't say a word,” he added.
All Kirzon can remember is that the attacker yelled “Jew,” but 13-year-old Levi told him afterward that he actually yelled “rotten Jew, shitty Jew and all kinds of ugly things.”
“He shouted at me, shoved his shoulder at me. He physically attacked me and I kept silent,” he remembered while telling the Post. He recalled asking his son to take a video or photos, but Levi answered that “he didn't want to take pictures. He told me ‘leave him alone, he’s too aggressive.’”
Luckily, Kirzon said, the physical assault wasn’t on the escalator, otherwise, he may have fallen. The doctor checked Kirzon and said that he was just a bit bruised and would be ok.
Kirzon said this was the second antisemitic attack he experienced. Three years ago he walked home late at night and a group of four drunk youngsters yelled at me ‘Jew, son of a b****,’ and other slurs.”
“Both my son and I were in shock,” he recalled. “It was psychologically difficult for me that Levi had to see his father being beaten.”
Will they find the attacker?
According to Kirzon, there were cameras on the scene and he hopes that the police will be able to identify the attacker.
It took two hours for them to be able to file a report.
The two are American citizens.