The hostages
The Israeli athletes enjoyed the Olympic Games in Munich, until, on 5th September, two of them were shot and a further nine initially taken hostage and later also murdered. What was the significance of the participation in the Olympic Games in Germany for the members of the Israeli delegation? How did the days pass up to the hostage-taking? How did the Israeli athletes react to the forced entry of the Palestinian group? What was the extraordinary situation the hostages found themselves in throughout the hostage-taking up to their deaths?
The Olympic dream of 1972 in Munich
15 Israeli athletes were able to qualify for the Olympic Games in Munich. They prepared for the competition together with their trainers. The members of the Israeli team came from various countries and some had only come to Israel a few years or months earlier. Some had taken Israeli citizenship shortly before the Olympic Games in order to be able to participate in the Olympic Games – the high-point of any sporting career. The decision to come to Germany may not have been easy for all members of the Israeli delegation. Some had only just escaped the National Socialists; many of their relatives did not survive the Shoah.
The arrival of the Israeli athletes in Munich
The 27 members of the Israeli delegation travelled to Munich a few days before the start of the Olympic Games. There had previously been numerous attacks on Israeli facilities and Israeli citizens abroad. Nonetheless, there were no particular safety precautions in place for the Israeli team. Most of the male Israeli athletes occupied apartments in Connollystraße 31 in the Olympic Village; the female athletes were accommodated further away. Many delegation members expressed concerns in regard to safety, as some of the apartments were on the ground floor. Some athletes were concerned about attacks; however, they assumed that the responsible security authorities had taken the necessary precautions.
The Israeli delegation at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games
On 26th August, 1972, the XXth Olympic Games in Munich were opened with a ceremony. Athletes from 121 nations – and therefore more than ever before – moved into the newly built Olympic Stadium. The sports marksman Henry Hershkovitz led the 27 members of the Israeli delegation under the blue and white flag of Israel.
I was terribly proud that Jews could raise their flag on German soil. [...] This is proof that the Nazis failed to break the Jewish spirit, to break the Israeli spirit."
How the Israeli secret service hunted the Olympic murderers of Munich. 2nd ed. Munich, p. 35
One day before, a memorial ceremony had taken place for the Jewish victims of National Socialism on the premises of the former concentration camp in Dachau. Hershkowitz and many other Israeli athletes took part. Just a few days later, Hershkowitz bore witness to how a Palestinian group killed two of his team mates and took a further nine hostage.
The first competition for the Israeli athletes
Yossef Gutfreund took part in the Olympic Games as a referee for wrestling. Henry Hershkovitz and Zelig Shtorch took part in sports marksmanship, supported by their trainer, Kehat Schor. The runner Esther Shahamorov was able to qualify for the semi-finals in the hurdles, with the help of her trainer Amitzur Shapira. Shaul Ladany reached 19th place in the 50 km race walk. Fencers Dan Alon and Yehuda Weinstain each reached round 16, supported by their trainer Andrei Spitzer. The swimmer Shlomit Nir took part in two distances. Sailors Yair Michaeli and Itzhak Nir participated in the competitions in Kiel.
Yossef Gutfreund participated in the Olympic Games as a wrestling referee. Henry Hershkovitz and Zelig Shtorch competed as sport shooters, coached by their coach Kehat Schor. Runner Esther Shahamorov qualified for the semifinals in hurdles with the support of her coach Amitzur Shapira. Shaul Ladany finished 19th in the 50-kilometer walk. Fencers Dan Alon and Yehuda Weinstain each reached the round of 16, with their coach Andrei Spitzer accompanying them. Swimmer Shlomit Nir competed in two distances. Sailors Yair Michaeli and Itzhak Nir took part in the competitions in Kiel.
The evening before the hostage-taking
Most of the Israeli athletes spent the evening before September 5 in downtown Munich. In the Deutsches Theater they had seen the musical "Anatevka" and during the intermission they took a group photo with the well-known Israeli actor Shmuel Rodensky.
It was to be the last joint photograph of the Israeli delegation. Shortly after midnight, the athletes went back to the Olympic Village and went to bed. The wrestlers' coach, Moshe Weinberg, had still met friends and did not return to 31 Connolly Street until after 3 am. A short time later, the Israeli coaches and referees, who were staying in Apartment 1, were awakened by noises.
The hostage taking in Connollystraße
The Palestinian group tried to gain entry to the apartment. Wrestling referee Yossef Gutfreund recognised the danger immediately and attempted to hold the door closed, so as to enable his team mates to escape. In these few seconds, weightlifting trainer Tuvia Sokolsky was able to flee through one of the back windows. The Palestinians overpowered Gutfreund and took him and the five other athletes in apartment 1 to a bedroom on the first floor.
The men of ‘Black September’ tied up the athletes and forced them into apartment 3, where the Israeli wrestler and weightlifters were sleeping. They were also overpowered by the Palestinians and taken to the other hostages in apartment 1. The heavily armed hostage-takers shot anyone who opposed their instructions or tried to resist. Moshe Weinberg died from the shots fired by the hostage-takers. Yossef Romano fought with his injuries before he succumbed to them in front of his team mates.
The situation in the apartment
The nine athletes Yossef Gutfreund, Kehat Schor, Amitzur Shapira, Yakov Springer, Mark Slavin, Andrei Spitzer, Eliezer Halfin, Ze’ev Friedman and David Berger were at the mercy of the hostage-takers. They sat with tied hands and feet on the two beds set up in the room, four on each and one sat tied to a chair. They had to endure hours in the bedroom on the first floor, monitored by the armed group members, the body of their team mate Yossef Romano lying in front of them. Outside, in front of Connollystraße 31, Issa, the leader of the hostage-takers, was negotiating with the crisis team. In the late afternoon, Federal Minister of the Interior, Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Walther Tröger, the Mayor of the Olympic Village, were able to enter the room. Genscher asked the Israeli athletes whether they would agree to fly with the hostage-takers to Cairo. They agreed.
Transporting the hostage-takers and hostages to Fürstenfeldbruck
More hours passed. Then the Palestinians tied the nine athletes to one another and led them at submachine gun point out of the accommodation to a bus which brought them to the helicopter landing pad in the Olympic Village. It was now night. Split into two groups, the athletes took there seats in the two helicopters, with four hostage-takers in each. Shmuel Lalkin, head of the Israeli delegation, who had been able to flee the hostage takers, followed the scene from a distance.
"Our helplessness awakened evil memories in us [...] The Israelis were completely defenseless, like lambs led to the slaughter."
How the Israeli secret service hunted the Olympic murderers of Munich. 2nd ed. Munich, p. 83
The Israeli security experts Zvi Zamir and Victor Cohen stood next to Lalkin.
"It was deathly quiet. There we stood on German soil and had to watch helplessly as Jews in shackles were led to the helicopters. [...] Suddenly I heard Strauß pointing out to Genscher in German that they had obviously made a mistake about the number of terrorists. [...] His words hit me like a fist blow. I realized that until this sight they had not known how many terrorists they were dealing with, although they had been inside and talked to them. Suddenly, as they were walking to the helicopters, they realized they had made a mistake about the number. That hurt. I noticed that Strauss was shocked, too. The Germans' reputation for being so accurate in all things was badly shaken by this. I was sure that there were five snipers ready for every terrorist. They had made me feel that they had a tailor-made plan and that everything had been thought of, and then ..."
How the Israeli secret service hunted the Olympic murderers of Munich. 2nd ed. Munich, p. 83
On the airfield
Gutfreund, Schor, Slavin, Spitzer and Shapira sat in the passenger space of the helicopter to the west. They were tied to one another and helpless victims of the further events. Springer, Halfin, Friedman and Berger were in the same situation almost 20 meters away in the other helicopter. The first shots were fired shortly after the landing in Fürstenfeldbruck. The police snipers had opened fire on the hostage-takers. They returned fire and shot at the tower. The Israeli athletes died from the Palestinian bullets – only David Berger survived the shooting injuries at first. He remained tied to his dead team mate during the ensuing events and ultimately died in the burning helicopter to the east from smoke poisoning.
All the hostages are dead
As the last shots were fired, the Israeli security experts Zvi Zamir and Victor Cohen ran to the two helicopters on the runway. They hoped to find surviving hostages. Instead, they saw charred corpses covered with blood.
"I went down the stairs and rushed over to the first helicopter. Pools of blood spread around the choppers and below. The door was open, and I was presented with the horrifying sight of five hostages crammed together on the back bench. Each man's head was resting on his neighbor's shoulder. There was no movement, no moaning, no gasping breaths, and the blood, the blood was pouring out of the helicopter and pooling in puddles on the asphalt. It didn't seem necessary to go over to the second helicopter, the one that was burned out. We were shocked. Around us there was complete silence. Genscher and Strauß came out of the office buildings and hurried toward us. They shook our hands and murmured a few weeks of consolation."
How the Israeli secret service hunted the Olympic murderers of Munich. 2nd ed. Munich, pp. 91-92
The missing voices
For over 20 hours, the Israeli athletes were defencelessly at the mercy of the hostage-takers. They had witnessed the deaths of Moshe Weinberg and Yossef Romano and had to wait out the negotiations in fear of death. Tied to one another and threatened at gun point, the nine hostages sat in the two helicopters on the airfield in Fürstenfeldbruck. They were robbed of any opportunity for action and died in a hail of bullets. Moshe Weinberg, Yossef Romano, Yossef Gutfreund, Kehat Schor, Amitzur Shapira, Yakov Springer, Mark Slavin, Andrei Spitzer, Eliezer Halfin, Ze’ev Friedman and David Berger were dead. Murdered by ‘Black September’.
We can only imagine the terrible fear of death the nine hostages had to endure for the final hours of their lives. Their voices are missing. This makes it all the more important to remember their brutal murders in September 1972 and to keep the memory of the Israeli athletes, husbands, fathers and sons alive. May they never be forgotten.
Authors: Dominik Aufleger, Anna Greithanner, Robert Wolff
Sponsored by
A project of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck.