Press release: Digital place of remembrance now online

With its own website and an interactive app, the district of Fürstenfeldbruck has created a digital place of remembrance that illustrates the events of 5 September 1972 in detail. The digital place of remembrance focuses on the memory of the twelve victims and at the same time offers the possibility to get an overview of the events and the place where the attack came to its tragic end.

The end of the cheerful Munich Games

The dream of the cheerful 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich came to an abrupt end on 5September 1972 when the Palestinian commando "Black September" took eleven athletes of the Israeli Olympic team hostage. After many hours ofnegotiations in the Olympic village, the hostages and terrorists were flown tothe air base in Fürstenfeldbruck.

The attempt to free them there failed. All the Israeli hostages and one German policeman died. Their names are: Moshe Weinberg, Yossef Romano, David Berger, Eliezer Halfin, Ze'ev Friedman, Yossef Gutfreund, Amitzur Shapira, Kehat Shor, MarkSlavin, Andrei Spitzer, Yakov Springer and Anton Fliegerbauer.

The Fürstenfeldbruck airbase will forever be inextricably linked with the tragedy of 5 September 1972. For more than 25 years, the district of Fürstenfeldbruckhas made it its task to commemorate the victims and remember what happened.

Remembrance work in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Olympic Attack. The district of Fürstenfeldbruck has been keeping the memories alive for 25 years. The first commemorative event took place in 1997, and in 1999 a memorial was erected at the gates of the airbase, giving remembrance a place in the district. Every year, on 5 September, a commemoration of the victims, their relatives and the survivors takes place in Fürstenfeldbruck.

In 2012, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary, the district hosted a large commemoration event in the presence of the Israeli relatives. In 2013, the Forum for Remembrance Work was founded, which is working on the solution of a dignified permanent place of remembrance. In 2018, the possibility of a "digitalplace of remembrance" was discussed, in 2019 the idea was decided in the district committees, in 2020 a concept was created and since 2021 the implementation has been worked on.

A digital place of remembrance

Since the site of the event is expected to remain a military security area until 2026, the initiative was taken to find a creative solution and design a digital place of remembrance. It can be found online since today in the form of a website and an app.

Under the project management of Silke Seiz, the historian Anna Greithanner and DominikAufleger - both LMU Munich - worked out a detailed concept for the digital place of remembrance on behalf of the district. This concept was implemented with the companies Augmented Minds, Munich, and Le4f Agency, Berlin. The team of historians was supported for the implementation by the historian RobertWolff, formerly of the Goethe University Frankfurt, as well as by the project assistant Sandra Moser. The concept idea ensures that the virtual memorial is not a temporary transitional solution that becomes superfluous or is replaced when the authentic site is opened. Rather, this implementation offers the possibility of initially making the airbase in Fürstenfeldbruck digitally accessible; from the first day of an opening as a memorial, the website and app can be used as a museum.

The website of the digital memorial

The result is a website that provides information about the assassination and the events of 5 September 1972, commemorates the twelve victims and allows contemporary witnesses and relatives to have their say. The website is dedicated to the various tasks of remembrance work: remembering, commemorating, looking back and admonishing. The interviews with contemporary witnesses conducted by the district form an important part of the digital place of remembrance. Inaddition, the website provides information about the district's current commitment to remembrance, events and much more. It is aimed at a broad audience inside and outside the district and will be accessible in four languages soon.

Historical documents such as the communiqués of the hostage-takers and the lists ofprisoners whom "Black September" wanted to free are published on the website. In addition, video interviews with, among others, the former Mayor ofMunich, Dr Hans-Jochen Vogel, and the Mayor of the Olympic Village, Dr WaltherTröger, provide insight into the decision-making process of those responsible. In further eyewitness accounts, paramedics, police officers and BGS officialsinvolved on site describe their memories of the evening of 5 September 1972.

The websitecan be found at: www.erinnerungsort-fuerstenfeldbruck1972.de

The app for the digital place of remembrance

Besides the website, an interactive app was developed with a focus on the authentic site ofthe air base in Fürstenfeldbruck. The app offers the chance to make the Old Tower and the airfield accessible as part of the place of remembrance while itis still closed to the public, because it can also be used independent of location in the so-called " at home mode". A mobile device provides information about the events, photos from 1972 are blended with the current images, while the events are retold via audio. The innovative, digital accessto the site opens up the topic especially to a younger target group.

The app canbe downloaded from the Google Play Store and the Apple Store from 5 September2022 under the name "Erinnerungsort 72".

District Administrator Thomas Karmasin is very pleased with the result of the work ofthe past years, which can now be seen online: "We do not want to forgetthe dead. The digital place of remembrance is a very good way to keep thememory alive and to transmit it to the youth. The Olympic Attack affects thewhole world. A place of remembrance that can be visited worldwide fits in with this."

Preview

After the publication, the educational aspect of the digital place of remembrance will bein the focus from now on. One main focus is on the target group of young people. The various elements of the digital place of remembrance can be optimally integrated into school lessons, for example in the subjects ofpolitics and history. Due to the thematic range and topicality of the topics, project work with interested people from all age groups is also possible beyond the school.

The project team of the Fürstenfeldbruck district office also plans events and cooperationswith (out-of-)school educational institutions and cultural institutions. The digital solution offers the chance to permanently reach a regional, nationaland international audience, to build a bridge to the present for younger generations and thus to do justice to the continuing historical significance of the event.

The digital place of remembrance helps to maintain the district's remembrance work in thefuture and to enable an innovative, location-independent communication of the events of 5 September 1972 until the opening of the air base and beyond.

The"digital place of remembrance Olympic Attack 1972 in Fürstenfeldbruck" is a project of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, represented by District Administrator Thomas Karmasin.

Projectmanagement: Silke Seiz

Projectassistance: Sandra Moser

Contentconception: Dominik Aufleger, Anna Greithanner and Robert Wolff

Technicalimplementation: Augmented Minds Ambrus & Lonau GbR, Munich (app), Le4fAgency, Berlin (website)

Contact: erinnerungsort@lra-ffb.de

The projectis supported by the Free State of Bavaria, represented by the Bavarian StateMinistry of Education and Cultural Affairs, the BMW Group, the International Olympic Committee and the German Olympic Sports Confederation.

We would like to thank all sponsors for their generous support!

 Source: LRA FFB