German prosecutors identify likely suspect in deadly 1970 Munich Jewish center arson

German prosecutors have closed the 56-year-old case of a 1970 antisemitic arson attack on a Munich Jewish community center and retirement home, identifying a deceased suspect linked to far-right circles. Seven Holocaust survivors died and 15 were injured in the fire. The investigation was reopened in 2025 after a tip-off.

The Munich Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has closed the investigation into the 1970 arson attack on the Jewish Community of Munich building at 27 Reichenbachstraße, which also housed a retirement home. Seven Holocaust survivors died and 15 were injured in the fire, set using a petrol mixture on the evening of 13 February 1970. The case was reopened in April 2025 after a tip-off from a witness who provided credible information about a suspect who had been in close contact with a relative in the 1970s. The suspect died in 2020. Investigators found compelling grounds that the deceased suspect, a 25-year-old German man at the time, was the perpetrator. He was linked to far-right circles, described as an antisemite with a 'Hitler obsession', and had allegedly remarked near the scene that 'the Jews have everything' and he wanted to 'set them on fire'. The offender profile matched the suspect, but prosecution is not legally possible against deceased individuals in Germany. The case is now closed.