German Youth Strangled by 3 Classmates in Attack Apparently Motivated by Anti-Semitism

(JTA) — A 14-year-old German boy was allegedly tied up and strangled at a Berlin high school by three classmates who hurled anti-Semitic insults at him.

The State Security Agency is investigating the Dec. 19 incident in gym class as politically motivated. The alleged assailants reportedly released their victim only after the gym teacher interceded immediately upon witnessing the attack.

The police report does not describe the attackers, nor does it note whether the victim was actually Jewish. He was slightly injured.

The school is on Alt-Marienfelde Street, in the former West Berlin.

In response to the incident, Lorenz Korgel, the Berlin city official assigned to combat anti-Semitism, told the German press agency dpa that every school in Germany’s capital should be teaching students about Jewish life and taking a clear stand against anti-Semitism.

Korgel cited the “Du Jude! #sowhat?” poster campaign of the Amadeu-Antonio Foundation as exemplary. Launched in November, the campaign seeks to spark discussion about the common schoolyard use of the word “Jew” as an insult, in part by pointing out that there is simply nothing insulting about being called a Jew.