"Obsessed with Hitler" set fire to a Jewish nursing home in Germany

Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office has identified the main suspect in the arson of a Jewish nursing home in Munich in February 1970. The suspect, a right-wing extremist who was 25 at the time of the crime, died in 2020. Prosecutors stated he "was obsessed with Hitler." Seven people died in the fire, including two former concentration camp inmates. The investigation was reopened in 2025 after a witness came forward.

Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office announced on Thursday, August 20, that it had identified the main suspect in the arson of a Jewish nursing home in Munich, committed in February 1970. The suspect's name has not been disclosed, but it is known that he was a right-wing extremist who was 25 years old at the time of the crime. He died in 2020. Prosecutors noted that the suspect "was obsessed with Hitler." It is believed to be neo-Nazi and criminal Bernd W., who was suspected of involvement in the arson in the early 1970s, but no evidence of his guilt was found at the time. On the night of the attack, the perpetrator set fire to a four-story building housing a Jewish community center, a nursing home, and a synagogue. About 50 people were inside. Seven people died in the fire—five men and two women, including two former Nazi concentration camp inmates. Six died from burns and carbon monoxide poisoning, and the seventh jumped from a window. Thirteen other residents were injured. The investigation was reopened in February 2025 after a witness contacted the prosecutor's office, reporting that a close relative was a member of Bernd W.'s criminal group and was near the building on the night of the arson. According to the witness, after a failed jewelry store robbery, Bernd W. flew into a rage, shouted anti-Semitic insults, and threatened to set fire to the Jewish center. The testimony of Bernd W.'s cellmate, who claimed that Bernd W. told him about his role in the arson, was also re-examined.