Historian Kraushaar defends disputed 1970 arson attack theory amid neo-Nazi evidence

Historian Wolfgang Kraushaar defended his controversial research at a Hanover event on Thursday. The discussion, organised by Against Forgetting—For Democracy, focused on when criticism of Israel becomes antisemitic. Kraushaar faced recent accusations of falsifying quotes and defaming a public figure in his 2005 book on a 1970 arson attack.

The lecture revisited his claims about left-wing extremists' involvement in the attack on a Munich Jewish retirement home. But critics argue he ignored new evidence linking the crime to a neo-Nazi instead.

Kraushaar, a former researcher at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research, stood by his findings from The Bomb in the Jewish Community Center. He repeated his assertion that Dieter Kunzelmann and Peter Urbach played key roles in the 1970 arson attack on Reichenbachstraße. The historian also suggested psychological factors might influence left-wing neo-scholarship, citing Henryk M. Broder's 1970s writings as early evidence of the problem.

At the event, he did not respond to allegations from neues deutschland that he had fabricated quotes or defamed Ulrich Enzensberger. Instead, he announced plans to publish a written rebuttal to the criticism. Kraushaar also recalled feeling isolated in 2005 when presenting his theory at a conference by Germany's domestic intelligence agency.

The case itself remains unresolved. In 2013, federal prosecutors reopened the investigation after a witness came forward in 2012. They examined fingerprints and DNA from a gasoline canister found at the scene. But despite new leads, the inquiry from 2013 to 2017 found no conclusive evidence. A 2023 Der Spiegel report later tied the attack to a local neo-Nazi—a connection Kraushaar did not mention in his lecture.

The debate in Hanover highlighted ongoing disputes over Kraushaar's research and its implications. His refusal to address recent allegations or the neo-Nazi link leaves questions unanswered. Meanwhile, the 1970 arson case remains officially unsolved, with conflicting theories still under scrutiny.