"It's a dark time in Europe, like in the Holocaust," Jewish Israeli Shalev Ben Yakar told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday after he was gang-attacked in Golders Green, London.
Ben Yakar was assaulted at around 02:00 am on Monday morning. The Metropolitan Police told the Post that no arrests had been made by Monday night, but that the assault was being treated as an antisemitic hate crime.
Ben Yakar had stepped out of his apartment late at night in order to talk to friends from South America when the group of five or six men heard him speaking in Hebrew.
The group of men chased him, cursing and shouting in Arabic, before catching him. They then dragged him across the road, tore his clothes, and beat him until he almost lost consciousness.
He wasn't wearing anything identifiably Jewish, such as a kippah, so he believes he was recognized purely because he was speaking Hebrew.
'It's a dark time in Europe, like in the Holocaust.'
"They kicked me in the face, on the back, on the legs. I have a scar," he told the Post.
"They took my left shoe. Only the left one. And I was thinking about that today and how it's a dark time in Europe, like in the Holocaust. It's very difficult to take my shoe like that," he said.
After the attack, he went to the neighbor's house, and the neighbor called the police.
Today, he is suffering from bruises and a headache, but said he received treatment from the Hatzola doctor soon after the assault.
He also spoke with the Met today, but cannot speak much on the matter as the investigation is ongoing.
Despite multiple trips to the capital, he said this was his first time experiencing anything akin to antisemitism.
However, Ben Yakar said the incident won't stop him from coming back to London, a city that he loves.
"I've been thinking that I want to fight for the community because the community here is incredible. They care so much about me and are so interested and gave me a big hug. So I want to, to fight for them."
"Of course I am scared to be in London now, but it's not gonna stop to me," he concluded.