Beginning with the epithet ‘Olympics of peace and happiness’, going down in the annals of history as ‘a dark chapter in sporting history’ – an unusual fate awaited the 1972 Munich Olympics. The commemoration meeting on the fiftieth anniversary of the Munich attack, which resulted in the tragic end of 11 Israeli players, became one of realizations. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier apologized in the presence of Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog and family members of the slain Israeli stars, acknowledging the failure to protect the Israeli stars.
The family members of the victims threatened to boycott the ceremony due to the delay in reaching an agreement on the compensation amount, but they finally agreed to participate in the ceremony after an agreement of 28 million dollars (roughly Rs. 222.5 crores) was made. The German government will pay 22.5 million dollars, the state of Bavaria will pay 5 million dollars, and the Munich government will pay 500,000 dollars. Isaac Herzog and Frank Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to the victims. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and other officials were present.
Munich in memories
‘Olympics of peace and happiness’ – this was the title given by Germany to the 1972 Munich Olympics. Germany was determined to erase the dark memory of the Berlin Olympics (1936), made notorious by Adolf Hitler’s efforts to spread Nazi ideology and launch anti-Jewish propaganda. The aim was to highlight Germany as the most peaceful nation when hosting the Olympics again after 36 years. As a part of this, even the deployment of uniformed police and army at the Olympic venue was avoided as much as possible. Security personnel wearing tracksuits were carrying only handguns.
August 26, 1972: The Munich Olympics begin. 7,134 athletes from 121 countries in 195 events. Only 27 athletes represented Israel in the Olympics. Israeli team members, including those who lost relatives in the Nazi holocaust, lined up behind the Israeli flag at the opening ceremony at the venue, just six miles from the Dachau concentration camp. Mark Spitz with seven gold medals in swimming and Olga Korba with gold medals in gymnastics are all making their debut at the Munich Olympics, but history is remembered for the first terrorist attack on a sports venue. 11 members of the Israeli team were killed in the terrorist attack.
‘Black September’ renamed
The events began when eight masked terrorists wearing tracksuits entered the Olympic village at 4.30 am on Tuesday, September 5, 1972. They were members of the Palestinian organization ‘Black September’. They were carrying AK 47 guns, pistols and grenades in the bag.
Terrorists jumped the fence of the Olympic village and reached the residence of the Israeli athletes. The group that shot Israel’s wrestling team coach Moshe Weinberg and weightlifter Youssef Romano took nine athletes hostage. The militants have announced that 236 Palestinians in Israeli custody must be released before 12 noon or the hostages will be executed. The situation became complicated when Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir declared that there was no peace talks. Peace talks started under the leadership of German officials.
Despite the panic, then-Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage announced that the games would go ahead. The first match of the day started at 8.15. But due to international pressure, the Olympic Committee finally announced that the games will be suspended. Meanwhile, with no significant progress in the talks, the authorities asked for more time. The militants threatened to execute the hostages every hour if the Palestinians were not released within the specified time.
Police move affected by ‘real time’
Television channels that had come to cover the Olympics had already started live coverage of the terror attack. With this, thousands of people gathered outside the Olympic village. The negotiations lasted for several hours. The militants rejected the German government’s offer to pay any amount of money in exchange for the release of the hostages. A request by the German Interior Minister to be a prisoner instead of the stars was also rejected.
The deadline given by the militants expired while the truce talks were progressing. Following the request for more time, the time was extended till 4.30. As the second deadline was about to end, efforts to rescue the hostages began through police action. But the attempt had to be abandoned when it became clear that the terrorists were understanding the movements of the police through the footage of the live broadcast.
Terrorists not trapped in truce; Panya rescue mission
After realizing the police’s attempt to take action, the terrorists raised a new demand to be transported to Egypt along with the hostages. The German authorities agreed to the request and bused the terrorists and the nine Israeli hostages to the prepared helicopters. Only then it became clear to the authorities that there were 8 people in the terrorist group. They were then taken to the air base at Furstenfeldbruck, 25 km away, by helicopters at 10.30 pm.
A few policemen were deployed inside the Boeing 727 plane, which was prepared and stopped at the air base, pretending to be the flight crew. The objective was to conquer the terrorists as soon as they boarded the plane. 5 sharp shooters were also kept ready in the tower of the air base and near the aircraft. But the police officers who were deployed inside the plane at the last minute withdrew from the responsibility without permission and got out of the plane.
Two terrorists who came down from the helicopters and boarded the plane for inspection saw the plane empty and realized the danger and ran back to the helicopter. With this, the sharp shooters opened fire. Clash started between police and terrorists. As the firing continued, one of the terrorists threw a grenade at one of the helicopters. Four hostages and the pilot were killed in the helicopter. Then the terrorists shot down all the five hostages in another helicopter.
The firing ended at 12.30 pm. Sixteen people including nine athletes, five terrorists, a police officer and a pilot were killed in the fight at the airport. Terrorists Mohammad Safadi (19), Adnan Al Ghashe (27) and Jamal Al Ghashe (18) were caught by the German police. The suspended Olympic sports resumed after 34 hours. The rest of the Israeli team returned home. The bodies of terrorists handed over to Libya were met with a heroic welcome by the people.
The Israeli-German relationship was also broken
International media later reported that those assigned as sharpshooters at the airbase were not specially trained in the use of sniper rifles. They had no means of talking to each other or telescopes/infrared systems. The indifference shown by the German government in dealing with the terrorists later drew sharp criticism. The issue even affected the relationship between Israel and Germany.
confidentiality; Airman Ranchal ‘Drama’
A few days before the completion of two months of this attack, on October 29, two terrorists of the ‘Black September’ organization hijacked a Boeing 727 of Lufthansa Airlines flying from Damascus, Syria to Frankfurt, Germany, with 12 passengers on board.
The threat was to release the three terrorists who are in the custody of the German police awaiting trial in the terrorist attack on the Munich Olympics, otherwise the plane will be blown up. The German government released the terrorists who were in prison. Terrorists who came to Libya after liberation responded that the terrorist attack brought the issue of Palestine to the world’s attention.
After 27 years, the Oscar-winning documentary ‘One Day in September’, released in 1999, revealed that the hijacking of the plane was part of a pre-arranged plan to pave the way for the release of the hostages following a secret understanding with the German government, which supported the members of ‘Black September’. Despite being a large plane, the fact that there were only 12 passengers, none of whom were women or children, reinforced the presumption. The action was based on the assurance that there would be no further attack on German soil.
Mossad’s reply
Among the three released by Germany, Mohammed Safadi and Adnan al-Gasheh were later shot dead by the Israeli spy agency Mossad. It is indicated that Jamal Al Ghashe, who has survived several assassination attempts, is living in Africa with his family. It is also history that the Mossad killed those who planned the terrorist attack during the Munich Olympics in a special mission called Wrath of God or ‘revenge of God’.
English Summary: 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre