German neo-Nazi suspected of deadly 1970 fire at Jewish retirement home

German prosecutors say they have identified the perpetrator of a 1970 arson attack on a Munich Jewish community centre that killed seven Holocaust survivors. For decades the attacker’s identity remained unknown, but Munich prosecutors now describe him as a 25‑year‑old lone neo‑Nazi with documented antisemitic views. The seven victims were all Holocaust survivors aged between 59 and 71; another 15 people were injured in the blaze. Prosecutors acknowledge that their conclusions come too late to deliver justice to the victims. The suspect, named by *Der Spiegel* as Bernd V, died in 2020. At approximately 20:40 on 13 February 1970, prosecutors state the assailant poured petrol into the wooden stairwell of the building on Reichenbachstrasse, which housed the Jewish community centre, and then ignited it. The fire spread rapidly to the upper floor. While many occupants escaped or were rescued by firefighters, four victims died in the stairwell and others perished after jumping from windows. Prosecutors say they possess “compelling grounds pointing to the (deceased) fishy being the perpetrator,” based on “credible information” supplied by a woman who came forward last year after the death of a close relative who had known the man well. According to prosecutors, the suspected arsonist was heard in the vicinity of the centre declaring, “the Jews had everything” and that he wanted to “set them on fire.” Fifteen minutes later the building was engulfed in flames. Authorities note that those remarks have been corroborated by other members of the witness’s family. Additional witnesses described the suspect as having a “Hitler‑fixation” and said he had listened to recordings of Nazi speeches in his youth. One head teacher told investigators that the suspect appeared to have used a Hitler‑youth dagger given to him by his father during a confrontation. He later received a juvenile conviction for blowing up two telephone kiosks. *Spiegel* reports that the female witness’s relative had once been a member of a burglary gang and, on the night of the arson, participated in a failed raid on a jewellery store near Gärtnerplatz. The relative said the botched burglary enraged Bernd V and provoked an antisemitic outburst. The investigation into the arson was closed in 2017 owing to a lack of conclusive evidence, but it was reopened last year. Prosecutors stress that the presumption of innocence remains applicable even after a suspect’s death, and they maintain there is “no reliable grounds” to suggest anyone else was involved in the attack. Fifty‑six years after the incident, German authorities say they are confident they have solved a notorious antisemitic crime. Nevertheless, observers expect the case to be viewed as a “historical nonaccomplishment” by police. Bernd V’s name had been brought to investigators’ attention in the early 1970s by a former cellmate, according to *Spiegel*, but insufficient evidence led them to drop the case at that time.