Munich’s Olympic Legacy

First time an Olympic mascot
was named: meet
Waldi the dachshund

From August 26 to September 11, 1972, the XX Olympic Games were held in Munich. These summer games were destined to be a series of firsts:

• First time a swimmer won 7 gold medals in a single Olympics (Mark Spitz, U.S.)

• First time slalom canoeing appeared

• First time an Olympic wrestler won a gold medal without having a point scored against him (Dan Gable, U.S.)

• First time the U.S. basketball team lost a game in Olympic competition

• First time a swimmer won medals in five individual events in a single Olympics (Shane Elizabeth Gould, Australia)

• Largest games up to that point, with 195 events and 7,134 athletes

The groundbreaking stadium design was the first time metal ropes were used on such a scale

Unfortunately, the games are remembered largely because they were the first time that terrorism took the stage and held the attention of the world.

Trying to Escape the Past

Germany was under a lot of pressure for the 1972 Summer Games. The only other time the Olympics were held in Germany was during the Nazi regime.

During their stay, the Israeli Olympic team visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial site just outside of Munich; a painful reminder of Germany’s not-so-distant past, and an impetus for Germany to show the world its path forward.

But Germany was itself a country divided into East and West, trying to uphold the ideals of global sportsmanship and friendly competition. And the theme it chose, “The Cheerful Games,” hit a small speed bump right at the start.

Security measures at Munich airport meant some commercial flights were diverted to Fürstenfeldbruck, an air force base approximately 30 km from Munich. Passengers encountered armed escorts to and through the terminal. To try and minimize this first impression of the games, a military brass band played as travelers came through.

September 5, 1972

Five days before the closing ceremony, members of Black September, a faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, launched a pre-dawn attack. They invaded an apartment of Israeli athletes, coaches, and officials in the Olympic Village and took them hostage. Their demand? The release of more than 200 political prisoners.

The terror began immediately. While a few hostages escaped through a window, a wrestling coach attacked the intruders and was shot and killed. A weightlifter also fought back, and was killed and castrated. Nine hostages remained.

Picture of one of the Black September terrorists
on the apartment balcony at Connollystrasse 31
photo (c) AP/Kurt Strumpf

Most of the day was spent trying to appeal to the kidnappers and offer ransom (which was refused). Subsequent evidence indicates the hostages were beaten and tortured during their capture.

Approximately 12 hours into the siege, German officials launched “Operation Sunshine,” an attempt to scale and infiltrate the building and rescue the hostages. Unfortunately, everything was being broadcast in real-time on TV, giving the terrorists fair warning.

That evening, weary of missed deadlines and fruitless negotiations, the terrorists demanded transportation to Cairo. The hostages and their captors were transferred by helicopter to Fürstenfeldbruck, where German law enforcement had laid a trap. The plan went horribly awry as the terrorists uncovered pieces of the planned ambush, and a gunfight ensued.

Four hostages in one helicopter were shot and then incinerated by a grenade. The remaining five hostages, five of the eight terrorists, and one German police office were also killed.

Aftermath: Operation Wrath of God

The three surviving terrorists were imprisoned to await trial. But they were released only weeks later on October 29, after Black September hijacked a Lufthansa flight. All were granted asylum in Libya.

Two of the three surviving terrorists were later tracked down and executed by Israeli special forces. In addition, members of the network responsible for planning the attack were killed. As of 1999, one terrorist was still alive and in hiding somewhere in northern Africa.

Aftermath: Who, What, When, & How

Following the tragedy, the Olympic Games were suspended for 24 hours, then resumed after a short memorial ceremony. By then, criticism of the handling of the crisis had begun, and investigations into the specifics continued for decades.

• Germany had no anti-terrorism unit, and a post-war prohibition on using the military during times of peace meant no combat-ready personnel were participating in rescue attempts.

• The “snipers” stationed at the airport were weekend marksmen who were trained to incapacitate rather than kill. They had inadequate guns for the distance and lighting, minimal protective gear, and no radios for updates about the number of terrorists or decisions to abort the original plan.

• Families of the victims were compensated soon after the killings, but for 20 years authorities denied the existence of any documentation that could be used in negligence lawsuits. The German government finally released approximately 4,000 files, but when the families brought suits, a judge ruled that the statute of limitations had long passed. After a series of appeals, the cases were settled out of court in 2003.

• Perhaps the worst indictment was that officials ignored the advice of experts. Not just on the day of the event, but well in advance. Three weeks before the games, officials reportedly received a tip that Palestine was planning an incident in Munich during the games. And Olympic organizers commissioned a forensic psychologist  to forecast likely scenarios to aid in security planning. His “Situation 21” matched the events of September 5, but security precautions had been minimized everywhere in order to uphold the "cheerful" theme of the games.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Germany’s efforts to erase the stigma of their previous Olympic hosting only ended in more Jewish bloodshed.   

  

Aftermath: Munich Massacre Legacy

Unlike many Olympic venues, the Munich park and athletes’ village were not disassembled or abandoned. The sports facilities are used as part of a large public park, and the village has become a residential area with some student housing.

Munich lost a bid to host the 2018 winter games, and some people balked at the thought they were trying to redeem their image for the 1972 games. But the city has not tried to sweep those events under the rug.

Just outside the subway station for the Olympic complex is a panel explaining the sad history of the Munich games. There is a memorial plaque on the building where the hostages were held, an installation on the walkway between the village and the stadium, and a memorial area just outside the village will officially open tomorrow during a commemorative ceremony.

The memorial plaque at the residence reads, "In this building lived the team of the state of Israel during the 20th Olympic Summer Games from August 21 through September 5, 1972.  On September 5, 1972, David Berger, Seew Friedman, Josef Gutfreund, Elieser Halfin, Josef Romano, Amizur Shapira, Kehat Shorr, Mark Slavin, Andre Spitzer, Jaakow Springer, and Mosche Weinberger died a violent death. Honor to their memory."

A documentary and several movies have been made about the incident, but aside from a couple of recent gestures, the International Olympic Committee had deemed it too political to acknowledge the tragedy in an ongoing way during subsequent Olympic Games.

So aside from the power of real-time television broadcasting, what lessons have we learned in the intervening 45 years?

Well, security at Olympic Games has been heightened significantly, and many more countries, including Germany, now have specialized anti-terrorism units. But have we decided that these kinds of incidents are just the way things now work? 

Kidnappings and murders in Mexico, South America, Africa, and wherever the Islamic State is able to strike, have become commonplace. What was once a tool of intimidation now seems to hit only a minor chord of detached horror before we move on to the next terrorist act.

My one hope is that we realize the world is shrinking and, though it may not seem like it, these tragedies affect us all. It is human nature to reach out to those who are hurting and in need, but it is also instinct to protect ourselves and the ones we love most, at all costs.

In the face of what seems to be unrelenting disappointment and devastation around the globe, we need to be vigilant. We need to continue to care. Although it goes against logic, this is not the time to insulate ourselves. When we withdraw from the world around us, we weaken ourselves in our ignorance and isolation. 

That's when small ideas become overblown and unchallenged. That's when fervor overrules facts. That's when we allow extremists on all sides to dictate the future or the destruction of the world we know.