The suspect appeared to have been planning to kill Jews for several weeks, apparently motivated by the Middle East conflict, which is why he chose the location, the prosecutors said.

Authorities in Berlin have detained a teenage Syrian refugee after a man was stabbed near the city’s Holocaust Memorial late Friday – as divisive rhetoric swells over Germany’s immigration policy, ahead of a consequential national election.

Detectives launched a large-scale manhunt across Berlin on Friday after a stabbing at the city's Holocaust memorial, two days before the country’s national elections.Three hours after the incident, officers sweeping through streets near the scene came upon an unidentified man whose hands were covered in blood,