Germany hosted the Olympic Games in 1972. Munich received more votes than Detroit, Madrid and Montreal. Germany did everything they could to make it a cheerful and well-organized sports festival. With a budget of 172 million, this seemed to work well. The first week of the Summer Olympics was filled with fun and joy. This joy came to an end when the hostage drama took place on the night of September 5.
Hostage drama
On the night of September 5, Israel’s athletes went out for an evening. Around 2:00 AM the athletes went home and went to sleep in their apartment. Their sleep was rudely interrupted when wrestling referee Yossef Gutfreund heard a strange noise. He walked to the door when masked men tried to enter. Yossef didn’t hesitate and threw his full weight (160 kilos) against the door to stop them. By now everyone had woken up. The men finally entered after two athletes were able to escape via the balcony. Two athletes attacked the heavily armed men, but were immediately shot. This brought the death toll from the hostage situation to two within three minutes.
After all the commotion, the masked men had nine live hostages:
- Yossef Gutfreund
- David Berger
- Mark Slavin
- Yacov Springer
- Ze’ev Friedman
- Amitzur Shapira
- Eliezer Halfin
- Kehat Shorr
- André Spitzer
There were eight of the hostage takers:
- Luttif Afif. He was the leader.
- Yusuf Nazzal
- Afif Ahmed Hamid
- Khalid Jawad
- Ahmed Chic Thaa
- Mohammed Safady
- Adnan Al Gashey
- Jamal Al Gashey
Afif and Nazzal worked within the Olympic village and were able to gain insight into the village. They were also recognized afterwards by Uruguayan athletes, who saw them in the apartment on the day of the attack. The Uruguayan athletes, who also stayed in the apartment, were allowed to leave unharmed by the hostage takers. This turned into a targeted hostage taking of Israeli athletes.
To demand
Within minutes the news reached the local security services, who immediately called in the government and automatically the national security service. After a few hours, the news was spread around the world.
After the hostage takers made their demands, it became clear why Israeli athletes were being held hostage. Their demand was that 234 Palestinian prisoners in Israel be released. In addition, it was demanded that Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof be released from German prison. These were leaders of the terrorist group called Red Army Faction.
While making the demands, the hostage takers introduced themselves. They indicated that they were of Palestinian descent and were members of Black September. Black September was a terror network of Palestinians from Jordan that terrorized both Israel and Jordan. At its peak, this terrorist network had approximately 400 members. This terrorist group no longer exists.
Germany and Israel both did not respond to Black September demands. This left the only option an armed approach.
Failed rescue attempt
During the first rescue attempt, the intention was to raid the entire village and surround the entire apartment complex. This attempt was ultimately canceled because Black September indicated that it knew what would happen.
The second attempt and also the last attempt should have succeeded due to a trap. However, during this operation there was a failure by the team carrying out the mission. At the trap, the hostages and hostage takers were taken by bus and then by helicopter to the nearest Fürstenfeldbruck airport. A plane was waiting here with which the hostage takers would fly to Egypt. The intention was not to actually let the hostage takers go. The hostages remained in the helicopters with police while the hostage takers boarded the plane.
When the leader of the group checked the plane, he learned that there were no pilots on board. The group became suspicious and realized it was a trap. The leader, followed by the rest of the group, came out of the plane while shooting. The police also opened fire. The leader threw a hand grenade at the helicopter with hostages. This grenade exploded exactly about half a meter away from the helicopter. The helicopter exploded, killing all nine hostages. Five of the eight terrorists were killed in the shooting.
The cause of the failure is related to the fact that there was little to no preparation. For example, it only became clear at the airport that there were eight hostage takers. It was first thought there were five. In addition, there were no trained marksmen present. Proper weapons and equipment were not on site.
Further proceedings of the Olympic Games
Never before has the Games program been suspended. A commemoration ceremony was held at the Olympic stadium on September 6. About 80,000 spectators and 3,000 athletes were present here. All flags of participating countries were flown at half-mast.
The IOC President gave a speech during this ceremony. He paid little attention to the incident and even seemed to put the events into perspective. He ended the speech with the words ,The Games must go on!,. This was to the surprise, anger and dismay of many people.
Aftermath
But even after the Games, the hostage drama would still have consequences. Three of the eight hostage takers were arrested. They were held in custody for 53 days. Then things went wrong again.
- October 29, 1972: A Lufthanse plane is hijacked. The hijackers demand that the three terrorists be released. German authorities did not hesitate for a moment and responded to the demands.
- October 30, 1972: The three terrorists arrive in Libya and are welcomed as heroes.
- October 30, 1972: Prime Minister of Israel responds by ordering the execution of every member of Black September. The military unit Caesarea is assembled for this assignment.
- April 1973: The team kills several activists and executives in an operation in Beirut. These are the first deaths to occur from Caesarea.
- 1977: A waiter is shot in Norway. The leader of Black September is thought to have been shot. Only two months later does it become clear that it is the wrong person.
- 1979: The real leader of Black September is killed by a car bomb in Beirut.
- 1979: Two out of three terrorists are killed.
- 1999: Jamal al-Gashey, the last surviving terrorist, gives an interview about the Munich hostage crisis.
- 1981: Abu Daoud, the mastermind behind the hostage taking, is seriously injured in a shootout between Caeserea and Abu Daoud and his troops. He goes into hiding in Africa.
- July 3, 2010: Abu Daoud dies of kidney failure at the age of 73.
Together, these missions and actions taken by security authorities are seen as the most failed operation in Germany’s history.
Steven Spielberg made a film about the events in 2005 . Munich was nominated for, among other things, the Academy Awards for best film, best script, best direction, best editing and best film music