French authorities are investigating the complaint of a Jewish man who reported that three young men viciously beat him on Saturday as he left a synagogue in Paris.
According to a report in French daily newspaper Le Parisien, the attack took place in the Saint-Ouen commune in the northern suburbs of Paris. The victim, identified only as Solomon, is 53, owns a grocery store, and has lived in the French capital for 15 years.
The police complaint describes how a young man of about 25 followed Solomon after he left synagogue on Shabbat, calling him a "dirty Jew." The assailant began to kick the victim, before spitting on him and threatening him with a knife.
At first, Solomon says, he tried to defend himself, but then two other men joined the attacker and began kicking him in the back and the legs. The three withdrew only after a physical struggle.
"I hear them say: 'Go ahead and stab him, the Jew,'" Solomon told Le Parisien. "I was sure they would kill me. I was bleeding all over. I'm confused, anxious and afraid to leave the house now. I am in absolute trauma."
Police are searching for the three assailants.
Anti-Semitism has been on the rise in Europe, and France in particular, in the past year, with acts of violence positively skyrocketing.
In 2014 alone, 164 violent anti-semitic incidents occurred in France - more than any other European nation.