by: Jeff Golomboski
OLYMPIC GAMES 1972
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WINNERS UP TO 5 SEPTEMBER.
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MARK SPITZ – AMERICAN SWIMMER
AMERICAN BASKETBALL TEAM
SHANE GOULD – AUSTRALIAN SWIMMER
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HANDBALL AND ARCHERY RETURNED
TO THE OLYMPICS EVENTS AFTER A
LONG ABSENSE.
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THE SOVIET UNION AND UNITED STATES
WON THE MOST MEDALS PUT OF ALL
COUNTRIES PARTICIPATING.
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U.S.S.R – 99 MEDALS
U.S.A. – 94 MEDALS
EAST GERMANY – 66 MEDALS
WEST GERMANY – 40 MEDALS
BLACK SEPTEMBER
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CREATED IN 1970
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ARAFAT FLANKED BY HAWATEMAH AND NASSER AT
A CONFERENCE IN 1970.
16 SEPTEMBER 1970, KING
HUSSIEN OF JORDAN DECLARED
MILITARY RULE AGAINST THE
PALESTINIANS AFTER THEY
ATTEMPTED TO SEIZE HIS
KINGDOM.
THIS RESULTED IN THE EXECUTION
AND EXPULSION OF THOUSANDS
OF PALESTINIANS IN JORDAN.
THE BLACK SEPTEMBER
ORGANIZATION WAS CREATED TO
TAKE REVENGE.
GETTING IN
• ABOUT 04:30 ON 5
SEPTEMBER 1972
– BLACK SEPTEMBER
ORGANIZATION (BSO)
ENTERED OLYMPIC
VILLAGE IN MUNICH
– UN-SUSPECTING
AMERICANS HELPED THEM
SCALE A FENCE TO GAIN
ACCESS TO THE
COMPOUND
– THEY GOT INTO THE
ROOMS USING STOLEN
KEYS.
31 Connollystraβe
• The intrusion had injuries
on both sides.
• Yossef Gutfreund,
wrestling referee, was the
first to become aware of
the intrusion.
• He threw himself against
the door and warned
others in the room about
the intrusion.
• Tuvia Sokolovsky was
able to break a window
and escape.
• Moshe Weinberg, Israeli
wrestling coach, was
injured trying to fight
back.
• Gad Tsobari was also
able to escape.
• Moshe Weinberg and
Yossef Romano were
both killed trying to fight
back.
The Hostages
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Yossef Gutfreund
Moshe Weinberg
David Berger
Yossef Romano
Ze’ev Friedman
Eliezer Halfur
Amitzer Shapira
Kehat Shorr
Mark Slavin
Andre Spitzer
Yakov Springer
The Remaining Team
• The 9 hostages
remaining alive were
located in apartments
1 and 3.
• Other Israeli
Olympians in
apartments 2, 4, and
5 were able to escape
once things quieted
down.
• Other members of the
Israeli team were
located in other
buildings off of
Olympic Village and
different parts of
Germany.
Authorities Notified
• German Authorities were notified by the two
Israeli athletes that escaped during the intrusion.
• Within an hour, by 0500, all the hostages were
kept in one of the apartments.
• They were each bound and then they were
bound with each other to prevent them from
fighting back.
• Before the authorities even showed up the Black
September terrorists had their demands written
in English.
The Demands
• The release of and safe passage to Egypt of 234
Palestinian & non-Arabs jailed in Israel along
with two German prisoners which were the
founders of the German Red Army Faction.
• The Counter-demands
– Unlimited amounts of money
– Substitution of high ranking German officials for the
release of the hostages.
All of the Demands were Denied
Games Stopped
• All of the Olympic games were stopped,
but only for 2 days.
• On the day of the attack the games
continued even 12 hours after the first
hostage was killed.
• Further negotiations went on and were
turned down without hesitation by BLO.
Proof of Life
• Two German officials
were allowed access
to the apartment to
check the well-being
of the remaining
hostages. The
officials were HansDietrich Genscher,
Minister for Interior
and Walter Tröger,
mayor of Olympic
Village.
Shorr and Spitzer talking with
authorities.
1st Rescue Attempt
• An initial attempt was in
the works. However it
was being shown live on
T.V. and was called off
since the Black
September terrorists were
watching it take place.
• German Police and
Officials were told if any
other attempts were tried
that the hostages would
killed.
Hostages are Moved
• BSO requested a jet to take them and the
hostages to Cairo. The requested was
denied, Egypt refused to take any part in
the matter.
• Instead, they were taken to
Furstenfeldbruck Airport.
The Final Attempt
• A very basic plan was built to rescue the
hostages. None of the officials in charge had any
special training in Hostage-Crisis or Negotiation.
• The plan was to set-up snipers and have them
take-out the terrorists on the way from the
busses to the airplane.
• This plan failed miserably. There were multiple
reasons for this.
• There were no radio sets
or any forms of
communication being
used.
• Rifles being used were
not equipped with
scopes.
• Not enough manpower
was being used during
the attempt.
• Lack of knowledge to this
type of situation.
• The news broadcasts first said that all the
hostages were alive. With the morale of
everyone boosted the real broadcast came
through:
– "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.“
--Jim McKay, ABC News
Effects on the Games
• The 1972 Olympics were halted for a only
a short period. 2 Days:
– The first on the day of the attack, 5 Sep 72
– The second for a memorial service, 6 Sep 72
– Until this time the Olympic Games have never
been stopped for any reason.
• Israel took immediate
action.
• Israeli Prime Minister
Golda Meir met with
the families of the
hostages. She
assured them that
action would be taken
against those
involved in anyway.
• “Send the boys forth.”
Golda Meir
Operation Wrath of God
• Israeli Mossad agents were sent out to
assassinate the key players involved in the
planning of Munich.
• An exact number of targets killed has yet
to be determined. They range between
20-35.
• The main part of the
operation ended with the
assassination of a civilian
not involved in any way
with Black September.
Numerous Mossad
agents were arrested
immediately after.
• The Mossad took rest
when Ali Hassan
Salameh was killed on 22
January 1979.
• Salameh was the
mastermind behind the
Munich attack.
References
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_massacre
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Wrath_of_
God
• http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/calahan.htm
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/905000/images/_
907614_terror300.jpg
• http://www.gamla.org.il/images/1999/nov/munich
1.jpg
• Munich, the Movie
• http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/koppel/tim
eline/long-war/long-war_02.html