This is information that seems unthinkable so much the drama now seems far from us. German head of state Frank-Walter Steinmeier admitted on Sunday it was “shameful” that Germany took 50 years to strike a deal to compensate relatives of Israeli victims of the bloody hostage-taking of the Munich Olympics in 1972. “That it took 50 years to achieve this reconciliation in recent days is truly shameful,” he admitted to his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, whom he received during an official visit on the occasion of the commemorations of this tragedy scheduled for Monday.
After decades of confidential negotiations, the German government announced Wednesday an agreement on compensation, in extremis before the ceremonies that the families of the victims had threatened to boycott. The latter had previously considered the amounts proposed by Berlin to be too low. The German head of state and his Israeli counterpart will be present at the commemorations scheduled for Monday in Munich.
Documents will be declassified
Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Sunday that he intended to recognize “certain errors of judgment, certain erroneous behavior, certain faults committed” by the authorities of his country around this tragedy. Including “repression and oblivion” during the 50 years following the hostage-taking, he added.
On September 5, 1972, eight members of the Palestinian organization “Black September” entered an apartment of the Israeli delegation in the Olympic Village, killing two Israeli athletes and taking nine other members of the delegation hostage, in the hope of exchange for 232 Palestinian prisoners. The intervention of the German security services ended with the death of all the hostages, a bloody outcome for which the West German authorities were held partly responsible. Five Palestinian attackers had been shot and three others arrested.
The government of Olaf Scholz has agreed to release an envelope of 28 million euros, partly paid by Bavaria and the city of Munich. Documents will also be declassified to allow German and Israeli historians to grasp the subject.