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{{Short description|1972 Summer Olympics murder of Israeli athletes}}
{{About|the 1972 massacre|3=Munich attack (disambiguation){{!}}Munich attack}}
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{{Infobox terrorist attack
| title = Munich massacre
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{{Campaignbox Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon}}
The '''Munich massacre''' was a terrorist attack carried out during the [[1972 Summer Olympics]] in [[Munich]], [[West Germany]], by eight members of the [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] militant organization [[Black September Organization|Black September]], who infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two members of the [[Israel at the 1972 Summer Olympics|Israeli Olympic team]], and took nine others hostage.<ref name=Sanchez2007>{{cite book|author=Juan Sanchez|title=Terrorism & Its Effects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AK6QA_WotRYC&pg=PT144|access-date=16 December 2012|date=2007|publisher=Global Media|isbn=978-81-89940-93-5|page=144}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJJG14mHbGAC&pg=PA34
Shortly after the hostages were taken, Afif demanded the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners who were being held in Israeli jails, plus the West German–imprisoned founders of the [[Red Army Faction]], [[Andreas Baader]] and [[Ulrike Meinhof]].<ref>{{Cite news |first=Simon |last=Reeve |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/olympics-massacre-munich--the-real-story-524011.html|title=Olympics Massacre: Munich – The real story|newspaper=The Independent |date=22 January 2006 |access-date=3 March 2012|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316084844/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/olympics-massacre-munich--the-real-story-524011.html|archive-date=16 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishpress.com/news/baffled-bob-costas-to-call-own-minute-of-silence-during-olympic-broadcast-for-slain-israeli-team/2012/07/22/0/?print|title='Baffled' Bob Costas to Call Own Minute of Silence During Olympic Broadcast for Slain Israeli Team|newspaper=The Jewish Press|date=22 July 2012|access-date=23 July 2012|author=Fleisher, Malkah|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180416/http://www.jewishpress.com/news/baffled-bob-costas-to-call-own-minute-of-silence-during-olympic-broadcast-for-slain-israeli-team/2012/07/22/0/?print|url-status=live}}</ref> West German police ambushed the terrorists, and killed five of the eight Black September members, but the rescue attempt failed and all of the hostages were killed.<ref name=":0" /> A West German policeman was also killed in the crossfire, and the West German government was criticized for the poor execution of its rescue attempt and its overall handling of the incident. The three surviving perpetrators were [[Adnan Al-Gashey]], [[Jamal Al-Gashey]], and [[Mohammed Safady]], who were arrested, only to be released the next month in the hostage exchange that followed the hijacking of [[Lufthansa Flight 615]]. By then, the Israeli government had launched an [[Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre|assassination campaign]], which authorized [[Mossad]] to track down and kill anyone who had played a role in the attack.<ref name=Montague>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/27/sport/olympics-2012-munich-shaul-ladany-survivor|author=James Montague|title=The Munich massacre: A survivor's story
Two days prior to the start of the [[2016 Summer Olympics]], in a ceremony led by Brazilian and Israeli officials, the [[International Olympic Committee]] honored the eleven Israelis and one German who were killed at Munich.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Sports/First-official-IOC-ceremony-in-memory-of-Munich-victims-463185 "First official Olympic ceremony held in memory of Munich victims"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814135256/http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Sports/First-official-IOC-ceremony-in-memory-of-Munich-victims-463185 |date=14 August 2016 }}, ''The Jerusalem Post''; accessed 5 September 2017.</ref> In the [[2020 Summer Olympics]], a moment of silence was observed in the opening ceremony.<ref name=Spungin>{{Cite web|last=Spungin|first=Tal|date=23 July 2021|title=Olympics: Moment of silence for Munich massacre victims for first time|url=https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/tokyo-olympics-moment-of-silence-held-for-israeli-munich-massacre-victims-674722|access-date=23 July 2021|website=The Jerusalem Post|language=en-US|archive-date=7 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507114409/https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/tokyo-olympics-moment-of-silence-held-for-israeli-munich-massacre-victims-674722|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Prelude==
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===Accusation of German foreknowledge of the attack===
The German weekly news magazine ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' wrote in 2012 that West German authorities had a tip-off from a Palestinian informant in Beirut three weeks before the massacre. The informant told West Germany that Palestinians were planning an "incident" at the Olympic Games, and the [[Foreign Ministry in Bonn]] viewed the tip-off seriously enough to pass it to the secret service in Munich and urge that "all possible security measures" be taken. According to ''Der Spiegel'', the authorities failed to act on the tip, and had never acknowledged it in the following 40 years. The magazine said that this was only part of a 40-year cover-up by German authorities of the mishandling of its response to the massacre.<ref name=Knew>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/germany-had-a-tip-off-three-weeks-in-advance-that-palestinians-were-planning-incident-at-munich-olympics-but-failed-to-act-der-spiegel-claims|title=Germany had a tip-off three weeks ahead of Munich massacre, Der Spiegel claims|newspaper=[[The Times of Israel]]|date=22 July 2012|access-date=22 July 2012|author=Ahren, Raphael|archive-date=24 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724124323/http://www.timesofisrael.com/germany-had-a-tip-off-three-weeks-in-advance-that-palestinians-were-planning-incident-at-munich-olympics-but-failed-to-act-der-spiegel-claims/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bohr |first1=Felix |last2=Frohn |first2=Axel |last3=Latsch |first3=Gunther |last4=Neumann |first4=Conny |others=Wiegrefe, Klaus |title=Die angekündigte Katastrophe |journal=Der Spiegel |number=30 |date=23 July 2012 |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-87508597.html |access-date=29 November 2017 |archive-date=21 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421093509/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-87508597.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Hostage-taking==
The attackers were reported to be Palestinian [[Terrorism|terrorists]] from refugee camps in [[Lebanon]], Syria, and [[Jordan]]. They were identified as [[Luttif Afif]] (using the [[code name
According to author Simon Reeve, Afif (the son of a Jewish mother and Christian father), Nazzal and one of their confidantes had all worked in various capacities in the Olympic Village, and had spent a couple of weeks scouting for their potential target. A member of the [[Uruguay]]an Olympic delegation, which shared housing with the Israelis, claimed that he found Nazzal inside 31 Connollystraße less than 24 hours before the attack, but since he was recognized as a worker in the Village, nothing was thought of it at the time. The other members of the group entered Munich via train and plane in the days before the attack.
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At 4:30 am local time on 5 September, as the athletes slept, eight tracksuit-clad members of the [[Black September Organization|Black September]] faction of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], carrying [[duffel bag]]s loaded with [[AKM]] assault rifles, [[TT-33|Tokarev pistols]], and grenades, scaled a {{convert|2|metre|ft|adj=on|frac=2}} chain-link fence with the assistance of unsuspecting athletes who were also sneaking into the Olympic Village. The athletes were originally identified as Americans, but were claimed to be Canadians decades later.<ref>{{citation|author=Kelly, Cathal|title=Munich massacre helped unwittingly by Canadians in 1972 Olympic atrocity|newspaper=The Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/article/1169848--kelly-munich-massacre-terrorists-helped-by-canadians-in-1972-olympic-atrocity?bn=1|date=28 April 2012|access-date=5 September 2017|archive-date=23 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623150118/http://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/article/1169848--kelly-munich-massacre-terrorists-helped-by-canadians-in-1972-olympic-atrocity?bn=1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Once inside, the group used stolen keys to enter two apartments being used by the Israeli team at Connollystraße 31.<ref name=jewsinsports1>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewsinsports.org/Olympics.asp?sport=olympics&ID=413|title=Ladany, Shaul|publisher=Jewsinsports.org|access-date=24 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205218/http://www.jewsinsports.org/Olympics.asp?sport=olympics&ID=413|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Yossef Gutfreund]], a wrestling referee, was awakened by a faint scratching noise at the door of Apartment 1, which housed the Israeli coaches and officials. When he investigated, he saw the door begin to open and masked men with guns on the other side. He shouted a warning to his sleeping roommates and threw his 135 kg (300 lb) weight against the door in an attempt to stop the intruders from forcing their way in. Gutfreund's actions gave his roommate, weightlifting coach Tuvia Sokolovsky, enough time to smash a window and escape. Wrestling coach [[Moshe Weinberg]] fought the intruders, who shot him through his cheek and then forced him to help them find more hostages.<ref name=Burnton>{{cite web|last=Burnton|first=Simon|title=50 stunning Olympic moments No 26: The terrorist outrage in Munich in 1972|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|date=2 May 2012|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/may/02/50-stunning-olympic-moments-munich-72|access-date=27 July 2012|archive-date=10 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910013843/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/may/02/50-stunning-olympic-moments-munich-72|url-status=live}}</ref>
Leading the intruders past Apartment 2, Weinberg lied by telling them that the residents of the apartment were not Israelis. Instead, Weinberg led them to Apartment 3, where the gunmen corralled six wrestlers and weightlifters as additional hostages. It is possible that Weinberg had hoped that the stronger men would have a better chance of fighting off the attackers than those in Apartment 2, but they were all surprised in their sleep.<ref name=Burnton/>
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As the athletes from Apartment 3 were marched back to the coaches' apartment, the wounded Weinberg again attacked the gunmen, allowing one of his wrestlers, [[Gad Tsobari]], to escape via the underground parking garage.<ref name=Abrahamson>{{cite web |url=http://articles.latimes.com/print/2002/sep/05/sports/sp-munichmain05|title=Black September|work=Los Angeles Times|date=5 September 2002|access-date=21 June 2018}}</ref> Weinberg knocked unconscious one of the intruders and slashed at another with a fruit knife but failed to draw blood before being shot to death.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cwkrv-yn57MC&q=Shaul+Ladany&pg=PT18|title=Warrior Elite: 31 Heroic Special-Ops Missions from the Raid on Son Tay to the Killing of Osama Bin Laden|author=Nigel Cawthorne |publisher=Ulysses Press|year=2011|isbn=978-1-56975-969-1|access-date=24 February 2013}}</ref>
Weightlifter [[Yossef Romano]], a veteran of the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], also attacked and wounded one of the intruders before being shot and killed. In its publication of 1 December 2015, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that Romano was castrated after he was shot.<ref name=NYT72>{{cite news|last1=Borden|first1=Sam|title=Long-Hidden Details Reveal Cruelty of 1972 Munich Attackers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/sports/long-hidden-details-reveal-cruelty-of-1972-munich-attackers.html?_r=1|access-date=1 December 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 2015|archive-date=2 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202165707/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/sports/long-hidden-details-reveal-cruelty-of-1972-munich-attackers.html?_r=1|url-status=live}}</ref>
The gunmen were left with nine hostages. They were, in addition to Gutfreund, shooting coach [[Kehat Shorr]], track and field coach [[Amitzur Shapira]], fencing master [[Andre Spitzer]], weightlifting judge [[Yakov Springer]], wrestlers [[Eliezer Halfin]] and [[Mark Slavin]], and weightlifters [[David Mark Berger|David Berger]] and [[Ze'ev Friedman]]. Berger was an expatriate American with dual citizenship; Slavin, the youngest of the hostages at 18, had only arrived in Israel from the Soviet Union four months before the Olympic Games began. Gutfreund, physically the largest of the hostages, was bound to a chair (Groussard describes him as being tied up like a mummy); the rest were lined up four apiece on the two beds in Springer and Shapira's room, and bound at the wrists and ankles and then to each other. Romano's bullet-riddled corpse was left at his bound comrades' feet as a warning. Several of the hostages were beaten during the stand-off, with some suffering broken bones as a result.<ref name=NYT72/>
Of the other members of Israel's team, [[racewalker]] [[Shaul Ladany]] had been jolted awake in Apartment 2 by Gutfreund's screams. He jumped from the second-story balcony of his room and fled to the American dormitory, awakening U.S. track coach [[Bill Bowerman]] and informing him of the attack.<ref name=ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/shaul-ladany-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418051109/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/shaul-ladany-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2020|title=Shaul Ladany biodata/stats|publisher=Sports-reference.com|access-date=24 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0KzECrIQDQC&q=Shaul+Ladany&pg=PA161 |title=Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics – With a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medalists|author=Paul Taylor|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|year=2004|isbn=978-1-903900-88-8|access-date=24 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LT2q2tSuIO8C&q=Shaul+Ladany&pg=PA131|title=Making Other Plans: A Memoir|author=Tom Mackin|year=2009|publisher=Author House |isbn=978-1-4520-7151-0|access-date=24 February 2013}}</ref> Ladany, a survivor of the [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp]], was the first person to spread the alert.<ref name=ref/> The other four residents of Apartment 2 (shooters [[Henry Hershkowitz]] and [[Zelig Shtroch]], fencers [[Dan Alon]] and [[Yehuda Weisenstein]]), plus [[chef de mission]] Shmuel Lalkin and the two team doctors, hid and eventually fled the besieged building. The two female members of Israel's Olympic team, sprinter and hurdler [[Esther Roth-Shahamorov|Esther Shahamorov]] and swimmer Shlomit Nir, were housed in a separate part of the Olympic Village.
==Negotiations==
The hostage-takers demanded the release of 234 Palestinians and non-Arabs jailed in [[Israel]], along with two West German insurgents held by the West German penitentiary system, [[Andreas Baader]] and [[Ulrike Meinhof]], who were founders of the West German [[Red Army Faction]]. The hostage-takers threw the body of Weinberg out of the front door of the residence to demonstrate their resolve. Israel's response was immediate and absolute: there would be no negotiation. Israel's official policy at the time was to refuse to negotiate with terrorists under any circumstances, as according to the Israeli government such negotiations would give an incentive to future attacks.
The German authorities, under the leadership of [[Chancellor of Germany (Federal Republic)|Chancellor]] [[Willy Brandt]] and Minister for the Interior [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]], rejected Israel's offer to send an [[Israeli Security Forces|Israeli special forces]] unit to West Germany.<ref name = "Reeve">Reeve, Simon. ''One Day in September'', 2001.</ref> The Bavarian interior minister Bruno Merk, who headed the crisis centre jointly with Genscher and Munich's police chief Manfred Schreiber, denies that such an Israeli offer ever existed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/interview-uns-ging-es-darum-das-leben-der-geiseln-zu-retten-1.740623|title=Interview "Uns ging es darum, das Leben der Geiseln zu retten|newspaper=Süddeutsche Zeitung|date=1 January 2006|language=de|access-date=9 August 2012|archive-date=11 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511090448/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/interview-uns-ging-es-darum-das-leben-der-geiseln-zu-retten-1.740623|url-status=live}}</ref>
According to journalist [[John K. Cooley]], the hostage situation presented an extremely difficult political situation for the Germans because the hostages were Jewish. Cooley reported that the Germans offered the Palestinians an unlimited amount of money for the release of the athletes, as well as the substitution by high-ranking Germans. However, the kidnappers refused both offers.<ref name=Cooley/>
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Munich police chief Manfred Schreiber, and Bruno Merk, interior minister of Bavaria, negotiated directly with the kidnappers, repeating the offer of an unlimited amount of money. According to Cooley, the reply was that "money means nothing to us; our lives mean nothing to us." Magdi Gohary and Mohammad Khadif, both Egyptian advisers to the Arab League, and A.D. Touny, an Egyptian member of the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC), also helped try to win concessions from the kidnappers, but to no avail. However, the negotiators apparently were able to convince the terrorists that their demands were being considered, as "Issa" granted a total of five deadline extensions. Elsewhere in the village, athletes carried on as normal, seemingly oblivious to the events unfolding nearby. The Games continued until mounting pressure on the IOC forced a suspension some 12 hours after the first athlete had been murdered. United States marathon runner [[Frank Shorter]], observing the unfolding events from the balcony of his nearby lodging, was quoted as saying, "Imagine those poor guys over there. Every five minutes a psycho with a machine gun says, 'Let's kill 'em now,' and someone else says, 'No, let's wait a while.' How long could you stand that?"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/flashbacks/munich/shootings_in_the_night|title=Shootings in the Night|author=Moore, Kenny|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=18 September 1972|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020822112617/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/flashbacks/munich/shootings_in_the_night/|archive-date=22 August 2002 }}</ref>
[[File:Spitzer and Shorr.jpg|thumb|left|Israeli hostages [[Kehat Shorr]] (left) and [[Andre Spitzer]] (right) talk to West German officials during the hostage crisis.]]
At 4:30 pm, a squad of 38 West German police officers was dispatched to the Olympic Village. Dressed in Olympic sweatsuits (some also wearing [[Stahlhelme]] and carrying [[Walther MP]]
At one point during the crisis, the negotiators demanded direct contact with the hostages to satisfy themselves the Israelis were still alive. Fencing coach [[Andre Spitzer]], who spoke fluent German, and shooting coach [[Kehat Shorr]], the senior member of the Israeli delegation, had a brief conversation with West German officials while standing at the second-floor window of the besieged building, with two kidnappers holding guns on them. When Spitzer attempted to answer a question, he was clubbed with the butt of an [[AK-47]] in full view of international television cameras and pulled away from the window. A few minutes later, Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Walter Tröger, the mayor of the Olympic Village, were briefly allowed into the apartments to speak with the hostages. Tröger spoke of being very moved by the dignity with which the Israelis held themselves, and that they seemed resigned to their fate.<ref name=Reeve/>
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==Failed rescue==
===Ambush plan===
The original West German plan was to offer to transport the terrorists and the hostages by plane to [[Cairo]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Doubek |first=James |date=4 September 2022 |title=50 years ago, the Munich Olympics massacre changed how we think about terrorism |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/09/04/1116641214/munich-olympics-massacre-hostage-terrorism-israel-germany |access-date=4 September 2022 |archive-date=17 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117174325/https://www.npr.org/2022/09/04/1116641214/munich-olympics-massacre-hostage-terrorism-israel-germany |url-status=live }}</ref> Two [[Bell UH-1]] military helicopters were to take them to nearby [[Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base|Fürstenfeldbruck]], a [[NATO]] airbase. Initially, the perpetrators' plan was to go to [[Munich-Riem airport|Riem]], which was the international airport near Munich at the time, but the negotiators convinced them that Fürstenfeldbruck would be more practical.
Realizing that the Palestinians and Israelis had to walk 200 metres through the underground garages to reach the helicopters, the West German police saw another opportunity to ambush the perpetrators, and placed sharpshooters there. But "Issa" insisted on checking the route first. He and some other Palestinians walked pointing their AK-47s at Schreiber, Tröger and Genscher. At that time, the police snipers were lying behind cars in the sidestreets, and when the group approached they crawled away, making noise in the process. Thus the terrorists were immediately alerted of the dangerous presence, and they decided to use a bus instead of walking. The bus arrived at 10:00 pm and drove the contingent to the helicopters. "Issa" checked them with a flashlight before boarding in groups.<ref>Interview with Tröger in ''[[One Day in September]]''<!-- when? --></ref>
Five West German policemen were deployed around the airport in sniper roles—three on the roof of the control tower, one hidden behind a service truck and one behind a small signal tower at ground level. However, none of them had any special sniper training, nor any special weapon (being equipped with the [[Heckler & Koch G3|H&K G3]], the ordinary battle rifle of the [[Bundeswehr|German Armed Forces]] without optics or night vision devices). The officers were selected because they shot competitively on weekends.<ref name=began/> During a subsequent German investigation, an officer identified as "Sniper No. 2" stated: "I am of the opinion that I am not a sharpshooter."<ref name=cbsnews>{{cite web| url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/05/world/main520865.shtml| title=Munich Massacre Remembered| date=5 September 2002| access-date=10 February 2010| first=Francie
The members of the crisis team{{mdash}}Schreiber, Genscher, Merk and Schreiber's deputy Georg Wolf{{mdash}}supervised and observed the attempted rescue from the airport control tower. Cooley, Reeve and Groussard all placed [[Mossad]] chief [[Zvi Zamir]] and Victor Cohen, one of Zamir's senior assistants, at the scene as well, but as observers only.
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Initial news reports, published all over the world, indicated that all the hostages were alive, and that all the attackers had been killed. Only later did a representative for the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC) suggest that "initial reports were overly optimistic." [[Jim McKay]], who was covering the Olympics that year for the [[American Broadcasting Company]] (ABC), had taken on the job of reporting the events as [[Roone Arledge]] fed them into his earpiece. At 3:24 am, McKay received the official confirmation:
{{Blockquote|When I was a kid, my father used to say "Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized." Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They've now said that there were eleven hostages. Two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They're all gone.<ref name = "aso">{{cite web|url=http://www.americansportscastersonline.com/mckay5questions.html|title=American Sportscasters Online interview with Jim McKay|publisher=Americansportscastersonline.com|access-date=7 June 2010|archive-date=29 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729050807/http://www.americansportscastersonline.com/mckay5questions.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
Several sources listed Ladany as having been killed.<ref name=Turnbull>{{cite news|last=Turnbull|first=Simon|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/shaul-ladany-still-king-of-the-road-6295322.html|title=Shaul Ladany: Still king of the road – Olympics|newspaper=The Independent|date=27 January 2012|access-date=25 February 2013|archive-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621071431/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/shaul-ladany-still-king-of-the-road-6295322.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ladany recalled later:
{{Blockquote|The impact did not hit me at the time, when we were in Munich. It was when we arrived back in Israel. At the airport in Lod there was a huge crowd—maybe 20,000 people—and each one of us, the survivors, stood by one of the coffins on the runway. Some friends came up to me and tried to kiss me and hug me as if I was almost a ghost that came back alive. It was then that I really grasped what had happened and the emotion hit me.<ref name=Turnbull/>}}
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It was known a half-hour before the hostages and kidnappers had even arrived at [[Fürstenfeldbruck]] that the number of the latter was larger than first believed. Despite this new information, Schreiber decided to continue with the rescue operation as originally planned and the new information could not reach the snipers since they had no radios.<ref>Reeve, pp. 103, 107.</ref>
It is a basic tenet of sniping operations that there are enough snipers (at least two for each ''known'' target, or in this case a minimum of ten) deployed to neutralize as many of the attackers as possible with the first volley of shots.<ref>Groussard, p. 349.</ref> The 2006 ''National Geographic'' Channel's ''[[Seconds
According to the same program, the crisis committee delegated to make decisions on how to deal with the incident consisted of Bruno Merk (the Bavarian interior minister), Hans-Dietrich Genscher (the West German interior minister) and Manfred Schreiber (Munich's Chief of Police); in other words, two politicians and one tactician. The program mentioned that a year before the Games, Schreiber had participated in another hostage crisis (a failed bank robbery) in which he ordered a marksman to shoot one of the perpetrators, managing only to wound the robber. As a result, the robbers shot an innocent woman dead. Schreiber was consequently charged with [[involuntary manslaughter]].
As mentioned earlier, the five German snipers at
In addition, the snipers did not have the proper equipment for this hostage rescue operation. The [[Heckler & Koch G3]] [[battle rifle]]s used were considered by several experts to be inadequate for the distance at which the snipers were trying to shoot. The G3, the standard service rifle of the [[Bundeswehr]] at that time, had a {{convert|18|in|mm|adj=on|order=flip}} barrel; at the distances the snipers were required to shoot, a {{convert|27|in|mm|adj=on|order=flip}} barrel would have ensured far greater accuracy.<ref>Groussard, pp. 354–55.</ref> None of the rifles were equipped with telescopic or infrared sights.<ref name=Reeve116/> Additionally, none of the snipers were equipped with a steel helmet or bullet-proof vest.<ref name=Reeve116>Reeve, p. 116.</ref> No armored vehicles were at the scene at Fürstenfeldbruck, and were only called in after the gunfight was well underway.<ref>Reeve, pp. 118–20.</ref>
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The bodies of the five Palestinian attackers—Afif, Nazzal, Chic Thaa, Hamid and Jawad—killed during the Fürstenfeldbruck gun battle were delivered to Libya, where they received heroes' funerals and were buried with full military honours.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sonneborn |first=Liz |title=Murder at the 1972 Olympics in Munich |url=https://archive.org/details/murderat1972olym0000sonn|url-access=registration |quote=The five Palestinian terrorists killed during the operation were also moruned in their homeland. During a funeral ceremony in Libya, more than 30,000 people turned out to honor the dead. |publisher=Rosen Publishing |year=2003 |page=[https://archive.org/details/murderat1972olym0000sonn/page/52 52] |isbn=978-0-8239-3654-0}}</ref> On 8 September, Israeli planes [[1972 Israeli air raid in Syria and Lebanon|bombed ten PLO bases in Syria and Lebanon]] in response to the massacre, killing a reported 200 militants and 11 civilians.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/olympics-massacre-munich-the-real-story-5336955.html Olympics Massacre: Munich – The real story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405024616/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/olympics-massacre-munich-the-real-story-5336955.html |date=5 April 2018 }}, ''The Independent'', 22 January 2006.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Plaw|first=Avery|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrLGaUvJfykC&pg=PA45|title=Targeting Terrorists: A License to Kill?|date=2008|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-4526-9|language=en}}</ref>
The three surviving Black September gunmen had been arrested after the [[Fürstenfeldbruck]] gunfight, and were being held in a Munich prison for trial. On 29 October, [[Lufthansa Flight 615]] was hijacked and threatened to be blown up if the Munich attackers were not released. Safady and the Al-Gasheys were immediately released by West Germany, receiving a tumultuous welcome when they touched down in Libya and (as seen in ''One Day in September'') giving their own firsthand account of their operation at a press conference broadcast worldwide.<ref name=Montague/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XE8fAAAAIBAJ&pg=5061,4223635&dq=lufthansa+615+olympics&hl=en|title=West Germany Cool to Capitulation Charge|newspaper=Daytona Beach Morning Journal|date=30 October 1972|access-date=28 February 2013|archive-date=3 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303013019/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XE8fAAAAIBAJ&pg=5061,4223635&dq=lufthansa+615+olympics&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Chalk>{{cite book|author=Chalk, Peter|title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2012|page=439|isbn=978-0-313-30895-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-wwPNjSnxcYC&pg=PA439|access-date=12 December 2015|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129001759/https://books.google.com/books?id=-wwPNjSnxcYC&pg=PA439|url-status=live}}</ref>
Further international investigations into the [[Lufthansa Flight 615]] incident have produced theories of a secret agreement between the German government and [[Black September]] release of the surviving terrorists in exchange for assurances of no further attacks on Germany.<ref>{{cite news|last=Burke|first=Jason|title=Bonn 'faked' hijack to free killers|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/mar/26/jasonburke.theobserver1|work=The Guardian|date=26 March 2000|access-date=1 August 2016|archive-date=11 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811222244/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/mar/26/jasonburke.theobserver1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Burnton|first=Simon|title=50 stunning Olympic moments No 26: The terrorist outrage in Munich in 1972|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/may/02/50-stunning-olympic-moments-munich-72|work=The Guardian|date=2 May 2012|access-date=1 August 2016|archive-date=10 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910013843/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/may/02/50-stunning-olympic-moments-munich-72|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Effect on the Games===
In the wake of the hostage-taking, competition was suspended for 34 hours, for the first time in modern Olympic history,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.olympic.org/munich-1972|title=1972 Olympics – Munich Summer Games results & highlights|date=7 February 2019|website=International Olympic Committee|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-date=16 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516171601/http://www.olympic.org/Munich-1972-summer-olympics|url-status=live}}</ref> after public criticism of the Olympic Committee's decision to continue the games. On 6 September, a memorial service attended by 80,000 spectators and 3,000 athletes was held in the Olympic Stadium. IOC President [[Avery Brundage]] made little reference to the murdered athletes during a speech praising the strength of the Olympic movement and equating the attack on the Israeli sportsmen with the recent arguments about encroaching professionalism and disallowing [[Rhodesia]]'s participation in the Games, which outraged many listeners.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.stripes.com/news/games-must-go-on-says-brundage-1.36208|title='Games must go on', says Brundage|date=7 September 1972|access-date=13 August 2016|first=Jack|last=Ellis|newspaper=[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]|location=Munich|archive-date=28 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728090746/http://www.stripes.com/news/games-must-go-on-says-brundage-1.36208|url-status=live}}</ref> The victims' families were represented by Andre Spitzer's widow Ankie, Moshe Weinberg's mother, and a cousin of Weinberg, [[Carmel Eliash]]. During the memorial service, Eliash collapsed and died of a heart attack.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/3032261/Athletics-Memories-stirred-of-Olympic-hostage-horror.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/3032261/Athletics-Memories-stirred-of-Olympic-hostage-horror.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Athletics: Memories stirred of Olympic hostage horror|date=6 August 2002|access-date=11 October 2012|first=Brendan|last=Gallagher|newspaper=[[The Telegraph (UK)]]|location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
Many of the 80,000 people who filled the Olympic Stadium for [[West Germany national football team|West Germany]]'s [[Football at the 1972 Summer Olympics|football]] match with [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]] carried noisemakers and waved flags, but when several spectators unfurled a banner reading "17 dead, already forgotten?" security officers removed the sign and expelled those responsible from the grounds.<ref name=began/> During the memorial service, the [[Olympic Flag]] was flown at [[half-staff]], along with the flags of most of the other competing nations at the request of [[Willy Brandt]]. Ten [[Arab]] nations objected to their flags flying at half-staff and the mandate was rescinded.<ref name = "CNN">{{cite magazine |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/events/1996/olympics/daily/july29/flemfile.html |title=Remembering the Munich 11? |access-date=22 July 2006 |last=Fleming |first=David |date=29 July 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000916002402/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/events/1996/olympics/daily/july29/flemfile.html |archive-date=16 September 2000 |magazine=Sports Illustrated}}</ref>
Willi Daume, president of the [[Munich]] organizing committee, initially sought to cancel the remainder of the Games, but in the afternoon Brundage and others who wished to continue the Games prevailed, stating that they could not let the incident halt the Games.<ref name=began/> Brundage stated "The Games must go on, and we must ... and we must continue our efforts to keep them clean, pure and honest."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1972/1972-Election/12305688736666-2/#title |title=Munich Crisis |publisher=Upi.com |date=12 January 2007 |access-date=7 June 2010 |archive-date=12 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212183751/http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1972/1972-Election/12305688736666-2/#title |url-status=live }}</ref> The decision was endorsed by the Israeli government and Israeli Olympic team chef de mission Shmuel Lalkin.<ref name=Encarta>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Encarta article on the Olympic Games |url=http://encarta.msn.com/text_761562380__1/Olympic_Games.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028041245/http://encarta.msn.com/text_761562380__1/Olympic_Games.html |archive-date=
On 6 September, after the memorial service, the remaining members of the Israeli team withdrew from the Games and left Munich. All Jewish sportsmen were placed under guard. [[Mark Spitz]], the American swimming star who had already completed his competitions, left Munich during the hostage crisis (it was feared that as a prominent Jew, Spitz might be a kidnapping target). The [[Egypt]]ian team left the Games on 7 September, stating they feared reprisals.<ref name=Guardian>[https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/story/0,12269,1298214,00.html Guardian article on the massacre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030130241/https://www.theguardian.com/world/1972/sep/07/germany.fromthearchive |date=30 October 2022 }}, 7 September 1972.</ref> The [[Philippines|Philippine]] and [[Algeria]]n teams also left the Games, as did some members of the Dutch and Norwegian teams. American [[marathon (sport)|marathon]] runner [[Kenny Moore (runner)|Kenny Moore]], who wrote about the incident for ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'', quoted Dutch distance runner [[Jos Hermens]] as saying "It's quite simple. We were invited to a party, and if someone comes to the party and shoots people, how can you stay?"<ref name=NYT2002>{{cite news|last=Butcher|first=Pat|date=12 August 2002|title=Athletics: In Munich, Israelis honor '72 victims|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/12/sports/12iht-track_ed3_.html|access-date=11 October 2012|archive-date=2 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602231609/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/12/sports/12iht-track_ed3_.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Dutch sprinter [[Wilma van Gool]] had qualified for the semifinals in the 200 m sprint; the time that she ran in the quarterfinals was faster than quarterfinals time of the eventual gold medal winner, [[Renate Stecher]] of East Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.olympedia.org/results/61413|title=Olympedia – 200 metres, Women|website=www.olympedia.org|access-date=16 August 2022|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318032522/https://www.olympedia.org/results/61413|url-status=live}}</ref> However, she withdrew from the competition in sympathy with the Israeli victims.<ref name="auto451">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/08/archives/maccabia-games-a-somber-occasion.html|title=Maccabiah Games: A Somber Occasion|date=8 July 1973|work=The New York Times|access-date=16 August 2022|archive-date=14 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814053221/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/08/archives/maccabia-games-a-somber-occasion.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She said that she was leaving in protest of the "obscene" decision to continue with the Olympic Games.<ref>John Bale (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=bkeRAgAAQBAJ&dq=Wilma++van+Gool+sprinter&pg=PA157 ''Running Cultures; Racing in Time and Space''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030130204/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Running_Cultures/bkeRAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Wilma++van+Gool+sprinter&pg=PA157&printsec=frontcover |date=30 October 2022 }}</ref> Many athletes, dazed by the tragedy, similarly felt that their desire to compete had been destroyed, although they stayed at the Games.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
Four years later at the [[1976 Summer Olympics]] in Montreal, the Israeli team commemorated the massacre: when they entered the stadium at the Opening Ceremony, their national flag was adorned with a black ribbon.
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The families of some victims have asked the IOC to establish a permanent memorial to the athletes. The IOC has declined, saying that to introduce a specific reference to the victims could "alienate other members of the Olympic community," according to the BBC.<ref name=BBC>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3581866.stm BBC News article on commemoration at 2004 Olympics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040829220405/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3581866.stm |date=29 August 2004 }}, 20 August 2004.</ref> Alex Gilady, an Israeli IOC official, told the BBC: "We must consider what this could do to other members of the delegations that are hostile to Israel."
The IOC rejected an international campaign in support of a [[2012 Olympics one minute of silence campaign|minute of silence]] at the [[2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony|Opening Ceremony]] of the [[2012 London Olympics]] in honour of the Israeli victims on the 40th anniversary of the massacre.<ref name=reject1>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/rogge-again-rejects-calls-for-minutes-silence-for-victims-of-1972-munich-massacre/2012/07/21/gJQAjL6h0W_story.html |title=Rogge again rejects calls for minute's silence for victims of 1972 Munich massacre |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=The Associated Press |date=21 July 2012 |access-date=29 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211105643/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/rogge-again-rejects-calls-for-minutes-silence-for-victims-of-1972-munich-massacre/2012/07/21/gJQAjL6h0W_story.html |archive-date=11 December 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=reject4>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/still-refusing-moment-of-silence-olympic-head-says-memorial-will-be-held-in-germany/ |title=Still refusing moment of silence, Olympic head says memorial will be held in Germany |work=The Times of Israel |date=22 July 2012 |access-date=29 July 2012 |author=Davidovich, Joshua |archive-date=3 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003105144/https://www.timesofisrael.com/still-refusing-moment-of-silence-olympic-head-says-memorial-will-be-held-in-germany/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Jacques Rogge]], the IOC President, said it would be "inappropriate," although the opening ceremony included a memorium for the victims of the [[7 July 2005 London bombings]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pbsinternational.org/programs/munich-72-and-beyond|title=Munich '72 and Beyond
In 2014 the International Olympic Committee agreed to contribute $250,000 towards a memorial to the murdered Israeli athletes.<ref>{{cite web|title=IOC contributing $250,000 to Munich massacre memorial|url=http://www.jta.org/2014/06/05/news-opinion/world/ioc-contributes-250000-to-munich-games-memorial|website=www.jta.org
There is a memorial outside the Olympic stadium in Munich in the form of a stone tablet at the bridge linking the stadium to the former Olympic village. There is a memorial tablet to the slain Israelis outside the front door of their former lodging at 31 Connollystraße. On 15 October 1999 (almost a year before the Sydney 2000 Games), a memorial plaque was unveiled in one of the large light towers (Tower 14) outside the Sydney Olympic Stadium.<ref name=MFA>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2000/8/Going%20for%20Gold-%20Israel%20at%20the%20Sydney%202000%20Olympics|title=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs article on Sydney 2000 Olympics and Plaque|publisher=MFA|access-date=7 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329154039/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2000/8/Going%20for%20Gold-%20Israel%20at%20the%20Sydney%202000%20Olympics|archive-date=29 March 2010}}</ref><ref name=JSF>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/14360/edition_id/279/format/html/displaystory.html|title=Simon Reeve's article in 2000: ''Munich massacre's echoes heard amid Sydney's jubilee''|publisher=Jewishsf|access-date=7 June 2010|archive-date=6 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606035054/http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/14360/edition_id/279/format/html/displaystory.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
In the [[2020 Summer Olympics]], a moment of silence was observed in the opening ceremony in 2021, a year before its 50th anniversary. This was the first time in history this happened in the opening ceremony.<ref name=Spungin/>
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[[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein of Jordan]], the only leader of an Arab country to denounce the attack publicly, called it a "savage crime against civilization ... perpetrated by sick minds."<ref name=Cooley>Cooley.{{Page needed|date=February 2012}}</ref>
U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] privately discussed a number of possible American responses, such as declaring a national day of mourning (favored by Secretary of State [[William P. Rogers]]), or having Nixon fly to the athletes' funerals. Nixon and U.S. National Security Advisor [[Henry Kissinger]] decided instead to press the [[United Nations]] to take steps against international terrorism.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/how-nixon-got-shot-of-munich-1.181028|title=How Nixon got shot of Munich|last=Oren|first=Amir|date=23 February 2006|work=[[Haaretz]]|access-date=4 August 2014|archive-date=10 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810055139/http://www.haaretz.com/how-nixon-got-shot-of-munich-1.181028|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Israeli response===
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[[Benny Morris]] writes that a target list was created using information from "turned" [[PLO]] personnel and friendly European intelligence services. Once completed, a wave of assassinations of suspected Black September operatives began across Europe. On 9 April 1973, Israel launched [[1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon|Operation "Spring of Youth"]], a joint Mossad–IDF operation in [[Beirut]]. The targets were Mohammad Yusuf al-Najjar (Abu Yusuf), head of [[Fatah]]'s intelligence arm, which ran Black September, according to Morris; Kamal Adwan, who headed the PLO's Western Sector, which controlled PLO action inside Israel; and Kamal Nassir, the PLO spokesman. A group of [[Sayeret]] commandos were taken in nine missile boats and a small fleet of patrol boats to a deserted Lebanese beach, before driving in two cars to downtown Beirut, where they killed Najjar, Adwan and Nassir. Two further detachments of commandos blew up the PFLP's headquarters in Beirut and a Fatah explosives plant. The leader of the commando team that conducted the operations was [[Ehud Barak]].{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
On 21 July 1973, in the [[Lillehammer affair]], a team of Mossad agents mistakenly killed [[Ahmed Bouchiki]], a Moroccan man unrelated to the Munich attack, in [[Lillehammer]], Norway,<ref name=hunt>Shalev, Noam [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/4627388.stm 'The hunt for Black September'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501234621/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/4627388.stm |date=1 May 2020 }}. BBC. Retrieved 4 March 2012.</ref> after an informant mistakenly said Bouchiki was [[Ali Hassan Salameh]], the head of [[Force 17]] and a Black September operative. Five Mossad agents, including two women, were captured by the Norwegian authorities, while others managed to slip away.<ref name=Morris/> The five were convicted of the killing and imprisoned, but were released and returned to Israel in 1975. Mossad later found
Simon Reeve writes that the Israeli operations continued for more than twenty years. He details the assassination in Paris in 1992 of [[Atef Bseiso]], the PLO's head of intelligence, and says that an Israeli general confirmed there was a link back to Munich. Reeve also writes that while Israeli officials have stated ''Operation Wrath of God'' was intended to exact vengeance for the families of the athletes killed in Munich, "few relatives wanted such a violent reckoning with the Palestinians." Reeve states the families were instead desperate to know the truth of the events surrounding the Munich massacre. Reeve outlines what he sees as a lengthy cover-up by German authorities to hide the truth.<ref name=Reeve/> After a lengthy court fight, in 2004 the families of the Munich victims reached a settlement of €3 million with the German government.
===Alleged German cover-up===
An article in 2012 in a front-page story of the German news magazine ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' reported that much of the information pertaining to the mishandling of the massacre was covered up by the German authorities. For twenty years, Germany refused to release any information about the attack and did not accept responsibility for the results. The magazine reported that the government had been hiding 3,808 files, which contained tens of thousands of documents. ''Der Spiegel'' said it obtained secret reports by authorities, embassy cables, and minutes of cabinet meetings that demonstrate the lack of professionalism of the German officials in handling the massacre. The newspaper also wrote that the German authorities were told that Palestinians were planning an "incident" at the Olympics three weeks before the massacre, but failed to take the necessary security measures, and these facts are missing from the official documentation of the German government.<ref name=Knew/><ref name=Spiegel>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/officials-ignored-warnings-of-munich-olympics-massacre-a-845867.html |title=Officials Ignored Warnings of Terrorist Attack |magazine=Der Spiegel |date=23 July 2012 |access-date=23 July 2012 |archive-date=23 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723220913/http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/officials-ignored-warnings-of-munich-olympics-massacre-a-845867.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=warnedH>{{cite web |author= Aderet, Oferet |title= Germany was warned one month before Munich massacre, claims Der Spiegel |work= Haaretz |date= 22 July 2012 |url= http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/germany-was-warned-one-month-before-munich-massacre-claims-der-spiegel.premium-1.452809 |access-date= 23 July 2012 |archive-date= 23 July 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120723072910/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/germany-was-warned-one-month-before-munich-massacre-claims-der-spiegel.premium-1.452809 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=warnedHJP>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=278504 |title=Der Spiegel: Germany had warning of Munich attack |date=22 July 2012 |access-date=23 July 2012 |archive-date=23 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723020028/http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=278504 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In August 2012, ''Der Spiegel'' reported that following the massacre, Germany began secret meetings with Black September, at the behest of the West German government, due to the fear that Black September would carry out other terrorist attacks in Germany. The government proposed a clandestine meeting between German Foreign Minister [[Walter Scheel]] and a member of Black September to create a "new basis of trust." In return for an exchange of the political status of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], the PLO would stop terrorist attacks on German soil. When French police arrested [[Abu Daoud]], one of the chief organizers of the Munich massacre, and inquired about extraditing him to Germany, Bavaria's justice secretary {{Interlanguage link multi|Alfred Seidl|de}} recommended that Germany should not take any action, causing the French to release Abu Daoud and the [[Hafez al-Assad|Assad]] regime to shelter him until he died at a Damascus hospital in 2010.<ref name=Wein>{{cite web |author=Weinthal, Benjamin |title= Germany met with Munich terrorists after attack |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=26 August 2012 |url= http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=282656 |access-date=26 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826221215/http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=282656 |archive-date=26 August 2012 }}</ref>
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Two of the three surviving gunmen, Mohammed Safady and Adnan Al-Gashey, were allegedly killed by Mossad as part of ''Operation Wrath of God''. Al-Gashey was allegedly located after making contact with a cousin in a [[Persian Gulf|Gulf State]], and Safady was found by remaining in touch with family in Lebanon.<ref>Reeve, p. 188.</ref> This account was challenged in a book by Aaron J. Klein, who claims that Al-Gashey died of heart failure in the 1970s, and that Safady was killed by Christian [[Kataeb Party|Phalangists]] in Lebanon in the early 1980s. However, in July 2005, PLO veteran Tawfiq Tirawi told Klein that Safady, whom Tirawi claimed as a close friend, was "as alive as you are."<ref name=began/><ref>{{cite book |last=Klein |first=Aaron |title=Striking back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's deadly response |publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks |location=New York |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8129-7463-8}}{{Page needed|date=October 2012}}</ref>
The third surviving gunman, [[Jamal Al-Gashey]], was known to be alive as of 1999, hiding in North Africa or in [[Syria]], claiming to still fear retribution from Israel. He is the only one of the surviving terrorists to consent to interviews since 1972, having granted an interview in 1992 to a Palestinian newspaper, and having briefly emerged from hiding in 1999 to participate in an interview for the film ''[[One Day in September]]'', during which he was disguised and his face shown only in blurry shadow.<ref name=OneDay>{{cite web |title=One Day in September |date=2011 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=
===Abu Daoud===
Of those believed to have planned the massacre, only [[Abu Daoud]], the man who claimed that the attack was his idea, is known to have died of natural causes. Historical documents released to ''Der Spiegel'' by the German secret service show that [[Dortmund]] police had been aware of collaboration between Abu Daoud and neo-Nazi {{Interlanguage link multi|Willi Pohl|de}} ({{aka}} E. W. Pless and, since 1979, officially named Willi Voss) seven weeks before the attack.<ref>[http://www.thelocal.de/national/20120617-43199.html Neo-Nazi 'aided Munich Olympics massacre'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619044819/http://www.thelocal.de/national/20120617-43199.html |date=19 June 2012 }}, The Local 17 June 2012</ref> In January 1977, Abu Daoud was intercepted by French police in Paris while traveling from [[Beirut]] under an assumed name.<ref name=Frum>{{cite book |last=Frum |first=David |author-link=David Frum |title=How We Got Here: The '70s |year=2000 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-465-04195-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/319 319] |url=https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/319 }}</ref> Under protest from the PLO, [[Iraq]], and [[Libya]], who claimed that because Abu Daoud was traveling to a PLO comrade's funeral he should receive [[diplomatic immunity]], the French government refused a West German extradition request on grounds that forms had not been filled in properly, and put him on a plane to [[Algeria]] before Germany could submit another request.<ref name=Frum/>
Abu Daoud was allowed safe passage through Israel in 1996 so he could attend a PLO meeting convened in the [[Gaza Strip]] for the purpose of rescinding an article in its charter that called for Israel's eradication.<ref name=began/> In his autobiography, ''From Jerusalem to Munich'', first published in France in 1999, and later in a written interview with ''Sports Illustrated'',<ref name=SI>{{cite magazine |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2002/08/20/sb2 |title=The Mastermind |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=26 August 2002 |access-date=7 June 2010 |author=Wolff, Alexander|archive-date=4 October 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021004095420/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2002/08/20/sb2/}}</ref> Abu Daoud wrote that funds for Munich were provided by [[Mahmoud Abbas]], Chairman of the PLO since 11 November 2004 and President of the [[Palestinian National Authority]] since 15 January 2005.<ref name=ILC>{{cite web |url=http://www.israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=340&show=photo&pn=1093&ref=report |title=Israel Law Center on Abu Mazen |publisher=Israel law center |access-date=3 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331131708/http://www.israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=340&show=photo&pn=1093&ref=report |archive-date=31 March 2012 }}</ref>
{{Quote|Though he claims he didn't know what the money was being spent for, longtime Fatah official Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, was responsible for the financing of the Munich attack.<ref name=Daoud>Abu Daoud.{{Page needed|date=February 2012}}</ref>}}
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Abu Daoud believed that if the Israelis knew that Mahmoud Abbas was the financier of the operation, the 1993 [[Oslo Accords]] would not have been achieved, during which Mahmoud Abbas was seen in photo ops at the [[White House]].<ref name=SI/>
Ankie Spitzer, widow of fencing coach and Munich victim [[Andre Spitzer|Andre]], declined several offers to meet with Abu Daoud, saying that the only place she wants to meet him is in a courtroom. According to Spitzer, "He [Abu Daoud] didn't pay the price for what he did."<ref>{{cite news |title=Her husband's killer |newspaper=New York Daily News |date=25 December 2005}}</ref> In 2006, during the release of [[Steven Spielberg]]'s film ''[[Munich (2005 film)|Munich]]'', ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' interviewed Abu Daoud regarding the Munich massacre. He was quoted as saying: "I regret nothing. You can only dream that I would apologize."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/03/munich.mastermind.dead/index.html?hpt=T2 |title=Suspected Munich massacre mastermind dead, report says |publisher=CNN |date=3 July 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=5 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705122627/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/03/munich.mastermind.dead/index.html?hpt=T2 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Daoud died of kidney failure on 3 July 2010 in Damascus, Syria.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10498912.stm |title=Mastermind behind Munich Olympics attacks dies |work=BBC News |date=3 July 2010 |access-date=3 July 2010 |archive-date=3 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703184856/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10498912.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
==List of fatalities==
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==Early life and memorial for Anton Fliegerbauer==
[[File:Anton Fliegerbauer.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Anton Fliegerbauer]]
Fliegerbauer was born in Westerndorf, [[Lower Bavaria]] and grew up on a farm with his two siblings. He originally attended Agricultural school before taking up an apprenticeship with the [[Bavarian State Police]].<ref name="Km">{{cite web |title=Anton Fliegerbauer |url=https://www.km.bayern.de/ministerium/kunst-und-kultur/erinnerungsort-olympia-attentat-muenchen-1972/elf-sportler-und-ein-polizist/anton-fliegerbauer.html |website=www.km.bayern.de |access-date=27 June 2018 |language=de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627144914/https://www.km.bayern.de/ministerium/kunst-und-kultur/erinnerungsort-olympia-attentat-muenchen-1972/elf-sportler-und-ein-polizist/anton-fliegerbauer.html |archive-date=27 June 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Fliegerbauer was appointed as police officer of the Municipal Police [[Munich]] to the rank "Polizeiobermeister" (Policeuppermaster) on 19 November 1970.<ref name="Km"/> In 1964 he met his future wife who he then married in 1966 and two years later they had a son, Alfred.<ref name="Km"/>
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Fliegerbauer was buried on 8 September after a "well attended" civic funeral attended by the Mayor of Munich [[Georg Kronawitter]] and Prime Minister of Bavaria [[Alfons Goppel]] with wreaths laid on behalf of [[West German]] Chancellor [[Willy Brandt]] and [[West German]] President [[Gustav Heinemann]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holt |first1=Richard |last2=Ruta |first2=Dino |title=Routledge Handbook of Sport and Legacy Meeting the Challenge of Major Sports Events. |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-67581-9 |page=358 |edition=1 }}</ref>
In a memorial service held at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base in 2012, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre, Fliegerbauer was remembered alongside the eleven members of the Israeli delegation slain by the terrorists.<ref>{{cite web |last1=(www.dw.com) |first1=Deutsche Welle |title=Tribute to victims of '72 Olympics massacre {{!}} DW {{!}} 5 September 2012 |url=http://www.dw.com/en/tribute-to-victims-of-72-olympics-massacre/a-16222012 |website=DW.COM |access-date=27 June 2018 |language=en |archive-date=27 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627173221/https://www.dw.com/en/tribute-to-victims-of-72-olympics-massacre/a-16222012 |url-status=live }}</ref>
During 2016 Fliegerbauer was memorialized at the Olympic Village in Brazil.<ref name="SinaiRio">{{cite news |last1=Sinai |first1=Allon |title=Israeli Olympic expectations peaking as delegation grows for Rio |publisher=Jerusalem Post |date=30 March 2016|id={{ProQuest|1777830757}} }}</ref>
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* ''[[Visions of Eight]]'', American documentary
* ''[[Munich 1972 & Beyond]]'', 2016 documentary film by [[Steven Ungerleider]]
* ''[[The Blood of Israel (book)|The Blood of Israel]]'', 1975 book (translated from the original book published in 1973 as ''La médaille de sang'') by [[Serge Groussard]]
==See also==
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==Further reading==
* Blumenau, Bernhard (Basingstoke 2014), ''The United Nations and Terrorism. Germany, Multilateralism, and Antiterrorism Efforts in the 1970s'' Palgrave Macmillan, ch. 2. {{ISBN|978-1-137-39196-4}}.
* Calahan, A. B. [https://fas.org/irp/eprint/calahan.htm "The Israeli Response to the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre and the Development of Independent Covert Action Teams"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317090810/https://fas.org/irp/eprint/calahan.htm |date=17 March 2021 }} (1995 thesis)
* [[John K. Cooley|Cooley, John K.]] (London 1973), ''Green March Black September: The Story of the Palestinian Arabs'' {{ISBN|978-0-7146-2987-2}}
* Dahlke, Matthias (Munich 2006), ''Der Anschlag auf Olympia '72. Die politischen Reaktionen auf den internationalen in Deutschland'' Martin Meidenbauer {{ISBN|978-3-89975-583-1}} (German text)
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* [[Simon Reeve (UK television presenter)|Reeve, Simon]]. (New York, 2001), ''One Day in September: the full story of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre and Israeli revenge operation "Wrath of God"'' {{ISBN|978-1-55970-547-9}}
* Tinnin, David B. & Dag Christensen. (1976), ''The Hit Team'' {{ISBN|978-0-440-13644-6}}
* [[Yossi Melman]], (17 February 2006), Interview with former Head of [[Mossad]], [[Zvi Zamir]]{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtStEng.jhtml?itemNo=683846&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&title=%27title%27 |title=Preventive measures |access-date=3 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001050309/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtStEng.jhtml?itemNo=683846&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&title=%27title%27 |archive-date=1 October 2007 }}, [[Haaretz]]
* Mohammad Daoud Odeh (August 2008), interview with NOX magazine, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110714203422/http://www.nox-mag.com/article/Rings+Of+Fire/ "Rings Of Fire"]
* Kramer, Ferdinand: ''Das Attentat von München.'' In: Alois Schmid, Katharina Weigand: ''Bayern nach Jahr und Tag. 24 Tage aus der Bayerischen Geschichte.'' C. H. Beck Verlag, München 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-406-56320-1}}. p. 400–414.
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==External links==
{{Commons category|Munich massacre}}
* [https://fas.org/irp/eprint/calahan.htm The Israeli Response to the 1972 Munich Massacre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317090810/https://fas.org/irp/eprint/calahan.htm |date=17 March 2021 }} – Includes an extensive overview of the Munich massacre
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100225132035/http://www.munich11.com/ A Tribute to the 1972 Israeli Olympic Athletes] – Includes biographies and photographs for each of the 11 Israeli athletes killed
* [http://www.municholympics.com MunichOlympics.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831161436/https://municholympics.com/ |date=31 August 2022 }} – Tribute site including photos and short biographies
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060221044156/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1137646-1,00.html ''Time Magazine''], 4 December 2005
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120902152411/http://www.archives.gov.il/NR/exeres/73045DBE-484C-419E-BCE1-6C32896F8E16%2Cframeless.htm?NRMODE=Published Special Publication of Israel State Archives: The Fortieth Anniversary of the Massacre of the Israeli Athletes in Munich]
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{{Terrorist attacks against Israelis in the 1970s}}
{{Palestinian militancy attacks in the 1970s}}
{{Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}
{{Arab–Israeli conflict}}
{{Olympic Games controversies}}
}}
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[[Category:Hostage taking in Germany]]
[[Category:Israel at the Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Jewish sports history]]
[[Category:Kidnappings in Germany]]
[[Category:Massacres in Germany]]
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