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Over three days last week, groups of youths pepper-sprayed and beat a 67-year-old Berlin shopkeeper who uses a wheelchair and damaged his shop’s door after he put up posters against antisemitism for the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, police said on Saturday.
Hans-Georg Lindenau told the German newspaper Bild that the attackers, whom he put at 10 to 15 years old, asked whether he was Jewish. He said the assailants struck him with a starter pistol during one of the attacks.
The first assault came on Wednesday, October 7, around 7:20 p.m., when about six youths walked into M99, his store on Falckensteinstrasse selling literature and accessories tied to left-wing protest movements. They abused him verbally and used pepper spray on him.
Up to six returned Thursday around 7 p.m. and sprayed him again. His cries for help sent them fleeing, but they came back shortly afterward as he prepared to close, sprayed him once more and beat him. He afterward reported facial pain.
Friday brought another visit, this time from as many as eight youths on electric scooters, according to eyewitnesses. They pounded the entrance door with their fists and feet, then fled, leaving it damaged.
Berlin’s criminal police have handed the case to their State Security Division, which is looking into a possible antisemitic motive. No arrests have been reported.
Antisemitism in the city has stayed far above pre-October 7th levels. Police recorded 2,268 antisemitic offenses in 2025, 24.3% more than the year before and over six times the 2022 count.
The monitoring group RIAS logged 2,197 incidents, roughly six a day, and warned last week that Jewish residents were avoiding certain places and keeping a lower profile in public out of fear for their safety.
Take Action
CAM has launched Report It, a secure app to report antisemitic incidents anonymously and in real time. Don’t stay silent. Download it today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. See it. Report it. Stop it.
