The Israeli embassy in Germany has confirmed that a 22-year-old man whose badly beaten body was found in the ruins of a Franciscan monastery in central Berlin was an Israeli citizen, though identification took time as he was beaten beyond recognition. ‘’Although the man was carrying an Israeli passport, his face could not be compared with the identity photo due to his "massive injuries,’’ police said.
Passersby found the body last Sunday sprawled behind a stone wall next to an iron fence near Alexanderplatz, across from a courthouse in the Mitte neighborhood. The area is known to be frequented by homeless and alcoholics.
The embassy said in a brief statement that it had received confirmation that the victim was one of its nationals. It did not provide further details.
"The name of the dead man will not be released for now out of respect for his loved ones," it said.
A Berlin-based prosecutor involved in the case told Channel 10 that police have, in fact, confirmed the victim's origin and his age. The young man was killed after suffering multiple blows to the head. So far, police have not determined a motive, he added as they are waiting on a DNA test to be completed to identify the victim and to find out why he was staying in - or living in - Berlin.
Police said they have opened a murder investigation into the case and called for any witnesses to come forward.
Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal of Chabad in Berlin said the man was supposed to celebrate the Passover Seder at the local Chabad house on Friday night but never arrived. The young man arrived at the Berlin Chabad on Passover eve. ‘’He said he didn't have anywhere to be.’’
"We brought him food, we arranged him a place to sleep," recalled the rabbi. "That same evening he said 'great,' and then left and didn't return. He wasn't at the (Passover) meal, and didn't come to sleep."