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.

The man arrested after a Spanish tourist was stabbed at Berlin's Holocaust memorial on Friday was a 19-year-old Syrian refugee, Berlin prosecutors said, a day before a national election in which concerns over migration are expected to boost the far-right AfD party.

German authorities said a Syrian suspect was intending “to kill Jews” when he stabbed a tourist in Berlin on Friday, the latest in a string of attacks by refugees and asylum seekers ahead of a crucial election on Sunday.