56 years later: Germany solves terror attack that killed 7 Holocaust survivors

German investigators announced on Thursday that they have identified the arsonist who carried out the antisemitic attack at a Jewish community center in Munich in 1970, in which seven Holocaust survivors were murdered. The suspect's identity remained a mystery for decades, but prosecutors now believe it was a 25-year-old lone-wolf neo-Nazi with known antisemitic views, as reported by the BBC.

The victims, all Holocaust survivors aged 59 to 71, perished in the deadly fire, and 15 other people were injured. The prosecutors' revelation comes too late to ensure justice for the victims, as the suspect, identified by the magazine "Der Spiegel" as Brand W., died in 2020.

According to the prosecutors, on February 13, 1970, around 8:40 PM, the murderer poured gasoline on the wooden staircase in a nursing home located inside the Jewish community building on Reichenbachstrasse and set it on fire. The fire spread quickly to the top floor.

Many managed to escape to the roof or were rescued by firefighters, but four of the victims perished in the stairwell and one more died after jumping from a window. The prosecutors now believe they have "compelling grounds indicating that the suspect (the deceased) is the perpetrator," based on "reliable information" received from a woman.

The woman approached the authorities last year, following the death of a relative who knew the suspect well. According to the prosecutors, the suspect was heard claiming near the community building that "the Jews have everything" and that he wanted to "burn them." A quarter of an hour later, the building went up in flames.

The authorities note that these remarks were confirmed by other family members of the witness. Other witnesses described the suspect as having a "fixation on Hitler" and said that in his youth he used to listen to recordings of the Nazi dictator's speeches.

A school principal said that the suspect apparently used a Hitler Youth dagger, which he received from his father, during a confrontation. Later, he was convicted of blowing up two telephone booths.

"Der Spiegel" reports that the witness's relative was previously a member of a gang of burglars, and on the night of the arson at the nursing home, they participated in a failed robbery of a jewelry store at the nearby Gärtnerplatz. The relative said that the failed robbery angered Brand W. and triggered an antisemitic rage in him.

The investigation into the arson attack was closed in 2017 due to a lack of conclusive evidence and was reopened last year. The prosecutors emphasize that the presumption of innocence still applies, even after the suspect's death, and that there is no reliable evidence pointing to the involvement of another person in the attack.

Fifty-six years later, the German authorities are now confident that they have solved an infamous antisemitic crime. However, the case will likely be considered a historical failure of the police, as Brand W.'s name was brought to the investigators' attention as early as the beginning of the 70s by a prisoner who shared a cell with him.