Fifty-six years after the attack on the Jewish community center in Munich, the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office has released new findings from its investigation.
The investigation, which was reactivated in April 2025 following tips from the public, has established a strong suspicion of guilt against a German national who died in 2020. According to the authorities, the suspect provided credible information to a witness, who had known him closely through a relative since the 1970s.
The man, who was 25 at the time of the incident, allegedly made remarks near the crime scene during the attack, declaring that “the Jews had everything” and that he wished to “set them on fire.” Several family members of the witness corroborated this statement. He was described as anti-Semitic and belonged to the far-right scene. During his youth, the suspect listened to Hitler speeches on records and participated in shooting exercises at the former “Führer Exclusion Zone Obersalzberg.” He also showed a predisposition for handling explosives; in fact, he had destroyed two telephone booths in Munich in the 1960s using explosives, which led to him receiving a youth sentence.
A former classmate described the suspect’s hostility towards Jews as “formative,” while a school principal highlighted his “cool, calculating need for recognition.” She also reported an altercation where the perpetrator allegedly used a dagger gifted by his father from the Hitler Youth. Furthermore, the profile created for the perpetrator by the Operative Case Analysis Bavaria, mandated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, matched the deceased suspect.
Despite extensive efforts, which included evaluating archived files and interviewing witnesses, a final legal determination could not be reached. Since the suspected perpetrator has passed away, a prosecution is not possible, and no conclusive evidence pointing to the involvement of other individuals was found. Consequently, the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office dropped the case, affirming the principle of presumed innocence post-mortem.
The attack, which occurred on February 13, 1970, tragically killed seven Jewish residents. All of the victims had survived the Nazi era, two of whom had been confined to concentration camps. Additionally, 15 other people were injured in the incident, including four seriously.
