Munich terrorist attack

1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany was a very important event - it was intended to overshadow the memory of the world community in the 1936 Games in Berlin (and the fact that they were followed). Therefore, at the Munich games, too, was full of propaganda, albeit with opposite sign; These games are presented as a "Game of peace and joy." In particular, the organizers felt that a large number of armed guards hurt that image. Therefore, the entire festival security was armed or not armed with small, dressed in blue uniforms - this is a positive color without the bad connotations. Pass regime was, to put it mildly, very easy: there are lots of posts about how journalists penetrated into the territory of the Olympic Village without a permit. It was enough to wear a tracksuit and jog.

2. For 42 people as part of the Israeli delegation Games were also a very important event. In Munich arrived citizens of the young state of Israel, many - Holocaust survivors or children of survivors. It was important to them to pass on German soil - head high, proudly following the flag of their country.

3. evening of 4 September, the Israeli delegation went to the theater - gave "Fiddler on the Roof." At the same time in the restaurant at the railway station, Abu Daoud, one of the leaders of Fatah and the inspirer of future attacks, instructing eight direct participants, members of the group "Black September».

4. In the evening the head of the Israeli delegation Shmuel Lalkin forbade his 13 year old son made friends with weightlifters and wrestlers, stay the night in their room. Perhaps this boy's life was saved.

5. The Olympic village was surrounded by a fence from the grid. Many athletes admitted that they were too lazy to get a fence to enter the territory through the gate, and they just climbed over it. So at four o'clock on the night of September 5, and the terrorists acted. At the fence, they met a group of people with nourish spree. Canadians, Americans and terrorists helped each other climb over the fence (athletes took eight strangers for fellow athletes from Eastern countries). Passed by a group of German postmen, later remembered how terrorists infiltrated. But in that moment everything seemed quite harmless, and no one paid any attention to the terrorists.

6. Two of the terrorist group previously explored territory (according to some, they worked in the Olympic village as laborers). In general, they knew where to go and the other led to the building where the apartments housed in five Israelis. The front door was unlocked. First, terrorists broke down the door in the first apartment, where they lived coaches. One of them, the fighter's team coach Moshe Weinberg, tried to resist; he was shot in the cheek and forced to spend the rest of the Israelites to the invaders. Weinberg convince terrorists that one of the rooms (which were actually Israeli athletes) took command of another country, and brought them to where the wrestlers and weightlifters lived, hoping that they will be able to cope with the Palestinians. But the Israelis were taken by surprise - it was night, and the athletes slept.
Initially, the terrorists took hostage 12 people, but when athletes were on the floor below, to unite with the coaches, one of the fighters, Gadi Tsabar, was able to escape. He helped the wounded Weinsberg, distracted terrorists and paid for it with his life. His body was thrown into the street at the entrance to the building - for intimidation and confirm seriousness.

8. The rest were taken to one of the bedrooms, where the sportsman (and veteran of the Six Day War) Joseph Romano tried to attack one of the terrorists. He was shot and left bleeding on the floor. Remaining nine hostages.

9. In the early morning of the sixth terrorists handed police demanding the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and the exact same two German radicals - Andreas Baader and Ulrike Maynhoff. Deadline was appointed to 9 am, then the terrorists have promised each hour shoot one hostage. Golda Meir, then Prime Minister of Israel, has taken a firm stance - a country in the negotiations with the terrorists do not enter. "If we lose, no Israeli anywhere in the world will not be able to feel safe," - she said.

10. At that time, the German police did not have any anti-terrorist unit, and the military could not take part in operations in the country in time of peace, without violating the postwar constitution. Therefore, the fate of the hostages in the hands of local authorities. Negotiations with the German side were the Bavarian interior minister Bruno Merk, his federal counterpart, Hans-Dietrich Genscher and the head of the Munich Police Manfred Schreiber. There was neither psychologists nor professional negotiators.

11. At six in the morning of the tragedy was reported to the IOC President Avery Brandeydzhu. He ordered not to stop the game; the first event began on September 5 at 8:15 exactly on schedule. "Games should continue at any cost," - he says. The result, of course, the competition had to stop, but it was only at 15:50, 10 hours after management received news of the seizure of the hostages.

12. Negotiators offered to terrorists, series and parallel, several options out of the conflict - unlimited amount of money at first, and then - to replace the Israelis themselves. The Palestinians have refused, but several times moved the dreaded deadline - first at 12:00, then at the hour of three o'clock in the afternoon, and finally, at five o'clock. Meanwhile, several plans to release the hostages, hastily developed crisis committee shattered by reality.
From idea to let through the gas conditioning system that will make the terrorists and hostages to lose consciousness, had to be abandoned because the gas could not be found. The idea to start the building of armed commandos disguised as cooks with food, failed when the terrorists said that ENTERED food in locked themselves. And the idea is to take the apartment assault failed because journalists. They filmed the preparation of police and passed them on the air - and the terrorists were watching TV in the apartment.

13. Soon the terrorists put forward new requirement - they wanted to go to Cairo by plane with the hostages. The Egyptian government refused to take a plane, but the German authorities decided to tell the terrorists that all settled - to lure them out of the building and free the hostages at the airport. Terrorists are allowed negotiators to enter the apartment, so that they can make sure that the Israelis are alive and ready to fly to Egypt. Those mistakenly counted as a team of 4-5 people Palestinians - and the crisis management headquarters is on the basis of these data, preparing the operation to free the hostages. It is strange that no one came to mind to question, for example, the same journalists and otsmotret film and recording, but when the building came from the captured eight terrorists, it appeared to the committee as a surprise.

14. At the airport drove "Boeing" of Lufthansa with 12 armed police, who portrayed the crew. However, when the police saw two helicopters with terrorists and not counted 4-5, as much as 8 opponents, they voluntarily left his post in a plane. None of them has been punished for it.
In addition to these people in the rescue operation involved several German "snipers" - more precisely, it was the police who liked to organize a shooting competition. They had no radios, no helmets, no body armor, and their weapons, Heckler & Koch G3, was not equipped with a telescopic or infrared sight and is suitable for this task is not better than themselves.
According to the authors of the documentary One Day in September, all police operations participating forbidden to speak about it in fear of losing pensions.

15. The terrorists, who arrived at the airport together with the hostages in two helicopters, checked standing on the airfield airplane, saw that it has no crew and realized it was a trap. "Snipers" opened fire, but only managed to hit the two terrorists. Started firefight that killed a German policeman. Shortly after midnight, the terrorists shot involving hostages in both helicopters and in every one of them threw a grenade. It was all over.
Police opened fire, accidentally catching one of the helicopter pilots and seriously wounding the sniper. In a shootout killed three terrorists and three others survived.

16 armored vehicles, which were to come to the airport to support the police, stuck in traffic. Why do not they drove to the airport in advance, Bavarian authorities to explain and could not.

17. Shortly after midnight on journalists in Munich announced that the operation was successful: the terrorists shot dead, hostages released. The same is transferred to the Israeli authorities, the families of the hostages, 56 IOC members (who disbanded crisis committee and went to sleep). An hour later, the administration official Olympics admitted that "information communicated earlier, was too optimistic." By three o'clock in the morning has become known the truth. The next morning Schreieder told a press conference: "The terrorists were too professional, too smart. The hostages were doomed to die, unless we make a mistake to commit suicide. We did everything we could, but they were not novices ».

18. The head of the Israeli delegation Shmuel Lalkin wrote to the chief of security of the Olympics still six weeks before the Games that concerned virtually absent security measures. He recommended Lalkinu not meddle in other people's business. Germany also received a warning from the informant from Beirut, the Palestinians plan "incident" at the Olympics, but ignored it.

19. At the Olympic stadium hosted the funeral ceremony, where there were 80 000 and 3000 athletes. USSR team at the ceremony was not (by the decision of Moscow), and representatives from 10 Arab countries refused to lower a little their national flags in memory of those killed by the Israelis. Among those present at the ceremony was the cousin shot Moshe Weinberg Carmel Eliasch - right at the stadium, he suffered a heart attack and died.

20. The bodies of terrorists were sent to Libya at the request of Muammar Gaddafi, where they were buried as heroes. Three of the survivors were in a German prison, but stayed there for a short time - a few months later was hijacked aircraft company Lufthansa, will be transported to "Damascus-Frankfurt" by Beirut. The terrorists demanded the release of hostages, and those immediately taken to Zagreb on a private plane. Many years later it was reported that the hijacking was planned by Fatah together with the German government. Fatah received their fighters, and Germany - a promise not to make more terrorist attacks on its territory. Incidentally, in a hijacked plane (accommodate 150 passengers) flew a total of 14 people, among whom there were no women, no children.

21. September 6, 1972, when the Olympic competition resumed after a 24-hour break (the only one in the history of the Olympic Games), the group launched the spectators on the podium banner with the inscription "17 fatalities already forgotten?»
In just a few seconds guard took away the banner and expelled these people from the stadium.

22. In January 1977 the ideologist and organizer of terrorist attack Abu Daoud was arrested in Paris. Israel has demanded his extradition, and pressed on Germany, so she did the same. But the Bavarian authorities so long prepared the necessary papers that France (which, in turn, pressed Arab countries) has been forced to release Abu Dawud in Algeria and even pay him a business class flight. Abu Daoud admitted his role in the hostage-taking in 1999 alone, and in 2010 he died of natural causes in Syria at the age of 73 years.

23. A few months before the Olympic Games in Munich police consultant, Dr. Georg Sieber forensic psychology has prepared a series of 26 possible scenarios of terrorist attacks, which could arrange during the Games the most different terrorist groups. Among them was one that came as a result of head thriller "Black September." After receiving the report, the police chief Schreiber ridiculed consultant. After the tragedy Sieber was fired, and the script "lost».

24. According to Abu Dawud, an operation in Munich financed Mahmoud Abbas - the truth, not knowing what it spent its money.

25. The only surviving direct participant in the capture, Jamal al-Gashi, until his death was proud of the offense. "It's incredibly helped the cause of Palestine. Before Munich world knew nothing about our problems, but that day Palestine was on the lips of the world "- he said in an interview.

26. During the 20 years after the attack the German authorities refused to divulge any official information about the tragedy. After in 1992 the widow of the deceased athlete Andre Spitzer appeared on television and demanded at least some information about the circumstances of her husband's death, contacted her anonymous German source and passed about 4000 different papers relating to the terrorist attack on the Olympics. Family hostage again sued Germany and after a series of vicissitudes received compensation in the amount of 3 million euros. However, the Minister of the Interior of the country did not fail to add that it is "not an admission of guilt, but only a humanitarian gesture».

27. When Germany freed the surviving terrorists, Israel took vengeance into their own hands. "Operation Spring of Youth" and "Wrath of God" were designed to hunt down and destroy anyone who was involved in the preparation of this and other attacks. In one of the operations of "Viasna" was attended by future Prime Minister Ehud Barak (disguised as a brunette), the future commander of the Northern Military okugom Amiram Levin (disguised as a blonde) and Yoni Netanyahu, brother of Benjamin Netanyahu (not in disguise).

28. According to the "Black September" Abu Iyad, it was in the night when the surgery was performed "Spring of Youth", they were going to visit Yasser Arafat head of military intelligence Fateh Mohammad Yousef Najaf (who was killed in his own home), and narrowly escaped death. < br />
29. During Operation "Wrath of God" killed several civilians unrelated to terrorism officials. This caused a flurry of criticism of Israel. Especially often recalled the death of Ahmed Buchiki waiter in Norway - agents confuse it with one of the leaders of the "Black September", Ali Hassan Salameh.

30. When Ehud Barak, many years later, he was appointed chief of the General Staff, it was revealed that one of his subordinates - the daughter of the deceased athlete Joseph Romano. But then Barack participation in "Operation Spring of Youth" was secret, and he could not tell her that her father avenged.
Here are the names of Israelis taken hostage September 5, 1972 and killed:

Zeev Friedman, weightlifter;
Joseph Romano, weightlifter;
David Berger, weightlifter;
Eliezer Halfin, wrestler;
Mark Slavin, a fighter;
Yosef Gutfreund, a judge on the classic struggle;
Jacob Springer, Judge weightlifting;
Andre Spitzer, fencing coach;
Kehat Shore, shooting coach;
Moshe Weinberg, wrestling coach;
Amitsur Shapira, coach athletics.

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