Berlin Cops Arrest Man for Arson Attacks, Vandalism Against Holocaust Memorials

German police have arrested a 63-year-old man in connection with a series of recent arson attacks and vandalism targeting memorials to Jewish and LGBT victims of the Nazis and a lesbian community center in Berlin.

The man, who has not been named, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon at his apartment in the Baumschulenweg neighborhood of the German capital. A statement from the Berlin public prosecutor’s office confirmed that he had accepted full responsibility for the attacks, which took place between Saturday and Monday. The statement added that the man’s motive in carrying out the attacks had still to be determined, with investigators reportedly investigating whether his actions were the result of poor mental health.

Two of the attacks took place last weekend, with one targeting the memorial to the more than 10,000 Jews deported from Gleis 17 (“Platform 17”) at Berlin’s Grunewald station to Nazi concentration camps, and the other the memorial to LGBT victims of the Nazis in Berlin’s Tiergarten park. On Monday, a third attack was reported at a lesbian community center in Berlin’s Neukölln district.

An independent investigation by the news outlet Die Tageszeitung concluded that the attacks were the work of one person who is likely responsible for similar past outrages.

In a report on Tuesday, the newspaper observed that at the scene of all the offenses, police officers discovered “notes or graffiti with a similar pattern of antisemitic annihilation fantasies.” All the notes bore the same signature — the name “Kassandros,” with “Berolinensis” sometimes added as well — the paper reported.

Two witnesses at the site commemorating the more than 10,000 Jews deported from Grunewald station reported seeing a man setting fire to a “book box” alongside the memorial that contains literature about the Holocaust accessible to any member of the public. The contents of the box, which was first dedicated in 2012, were almost completely destroyed in the arson attack, a police spokesperson said.

Felor Badenberg, who holds the Justice portfolio in the Berlin Senate, praised law enforcement for the arrest.

“It is the duty of the state, of civil society, and of each and every one of us not to look away when people are being discriminated against and attacked because of their faith or their sexual orientation,” Badenberg said.

A vigil will be held at Grunewald station on Sunday where participants can engage in “conversations, music, and readings to help process the crime and gather new strength to continue our work against racism and antisemitism,” a statement from the organizers said. Among those appearing will be Tal Koch, an Israeli tenor resident in Berlin who performs music inspired by Jewish and other influences.

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