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LEARN ABOUT THE MUNICH MASSACRE OF 1972

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Learn about the Munich massacre of 1972
Overview of the Munich massacre, in which members of the militant Palestinian
group Black September took 11 Israeli athletes hostage during the 1972 Olympic
Games in Munich, West Germany; all the hostages were killed.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
 * Learn about the Munich massacre of 1972
   
 * Munich's major landmarks and traditions
   
 * When was the first Oktoberfest?
   
 * Rise and fall of the Red Army Faction in West Germany
   
 * Witness the historic speech by U.S. Pres. Barack Obama announcing the killing
   of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces, May 2011
   
 * Learn about the deadly terrorist attack by Black September at the 1972 Munich
   Olympic Games, which resulted in the death of 11 Israelis
   
 * September 11 terrorist attacks: Perpetrators and victims
   
 * Extending Munich's underground rail system
   
 * Surfing on the Eisbach River in Munich
   

Related Articles: Black September, Munich, terrorism, Munich 1972 Olympic Games,
Munich massacre, GSG 9

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


TRANSCRIPT

Munich, West Germany, 1972. The Summer Olympics. On September the 5th, the
joyous spirit of the games comes to a standstill. In the early morning hours,
eight Palestinian terrorists disguised in tracksuits scale a chain-link fence
and sneak into the Olympic Village. They are headed for the apartments being
used by the Israeli team at 31 Connollystrabe. Inside, the apartment's occupants
try to fight the intruders, who immediately respond with gunfire. Mosche
Weinberg and Josef Romano are shot dead. Nine further athletes are taken
hostage.

The news shocks the world. The streets are filled with protestors who demand an
end to the terrorist acts. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come. The
Palestinian assailants are members of the terrorist group Black September and
have barricaded themselves inside the Olympic Village with their hostages. In
exchange for letting them go, the terrorists demand the release of 200
Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel along with two West German Red Army
Faction members, Andreas Bader and Ulrike Meinhof.

The terrorist attack catches the games' organizers entirely off guard. The
police at the Olympic Village are uniformed in tracksuits and equipped with
nothing but walkie-talkies. Despite this, West Germany rejects Israel's offer to
send in a special forces unit. Chancellor Willi Brandt would later go on to
describe the events of September 6th, 1972 as, "a shocking display of German
incompetence." Snipers get into position in the Olympic Village. The premises
proves hard to secure, and the German authorities cannot manage the job. It
begins to look as if the terrorists have the upper hand as hours go by and
several ultimatums pass unheeded. Behind the scenes, however, Israel has made it
crystal clear that it will not release any of the prisoners.

Before long, the situation comes to a head. All of the government's attempts to
negotiate the hostages' release fail. The terrorists refuse both the exorbitant
amounts of ransom money and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, then Germany's Minister for
the Interior, as a suitable surrogate hostage. Informed by television and radio
broadcasts that German snipers are on the premises, the Palestinians demand safe
air passage to Cairo along with their abducted Israelis. The German negotiators
concede to the demands, convincing the terrorists to take off from
Furstenfeldbruck, an air-force base where an ambush is scheduled to take place.
The helicopters with the hostage-takers arrive there at 10:30 p.m., and once
again the German authorities are ill-equipped to handle the situation. They open
fire on the terrorists, who manage to successfully defend themselves in a
showdown that lasts nearly two hours. The problem is that the German snipers are
poorly positioned and the reinforcements sent by the German military are caught
in traffic. When they finally get there, the terrorists aim a hand grenade at
the helicopter with the Israeli athletes. The aircraft explodes, instantly
killing the hostages. A German policeman is fatally wounded by a gunshot to the
head. Three of the terrorists survive the shootout and are taken into custody.

After being suspended for just one full day, the Olympics recommence. The
remainder of the games, however, is overshadowed by the tragedy known today as
the Munich Massacre.

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