2.+c)+The+1972+Munich+Olympics+Hostage+Crisis

The 1972 Munich Olympics Hostage Crisis
What happened? (Alisha and Stephanie)

On the evening of 4 September, the Israel athletes enjoyed a night out, watching a performance of //Fiddler on the Roof// and dining with the play’s star, Israeli actor Shmuel Rodensky, before returning to the Olympic Village. On the return trip in the team bus, Lalkin denied his 13-year-old son, who had befriended weightlifter Yossef Romano and wrestly Eliezer Halfin, permission to spend the night in their apartment – an innocent refusal that probably saved the boy’s life. At 4:30 am local time on 5 September, as the athletes slept, eight tracksuit-clad members of Black September carrying duffel bags loaded with AKM assault athletes who were also sneaking into the Olympic Village. The athletes were originally identified as Americans, but were claimed to be Canadians decades later. Once inside, they used to stolen keys to enter two apartments being used by the Israeli team at 31 Connollystrasse.

Yossef Gutfruend, a wrestling referee, was awakened by a faint scratching noise at the door of Apartment 1, which housed the Israeli coaches and officials. When he investigated, he saw the door begin to open and masked men with guns on the other side. He shouted a warning to his sleeping roommates and threw his nearly 135kg weight against the door in a futile attempt to stop the intruders from forcing their way in. Gutfreund’s actions gave his roommate, weightlifting coach Tuvia Sokolovsky, enough time to smash a window and escape. Wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg fought the intruders, past Apartment 2, Weinberg lied by telling them that the residents of the apartment were not Israelis. Instead, Weinberg led them to Apartment 3, where the gunmen corralled six wrestlers and weightlifters as additional hostages. It is possible that Weinberg hoped that the stronger men would have a better chance of fighting off the attackers, but they were all surprised in their sleep.

As the athletes from Apartment 3 were marched back to the coaches’ apartment, the wounded Weinberg again attacked the gunmen, allowing one of his wrestlers, Gad Tsobari to escape via the underground parking garage. The burly Weinberg knocked one of the intruders unconscious and slashed another with a fruit knife before being shot to death. Weightlifter Yossef Romano, a veteran of the Six-Day War, also attacked and wounded one of the intruders before being shot and killed.

The gunmen were left with nine hosatges. They were, in addition to Gutfreund, sharpshooting coach Khat Shorr, track and field coach Amitzur Shapir, Fening master Andre Spitzer, weight lifting judge Yakov Spinger, wrestler Eliezer Halfin and Mark Slavin, at 18 the youngest of the hostages, had only arrived in Isreal from the soviet Union four months before the Olympic Games began. Gutfreund, physically the largest of the hostages, was bound to a chair; the rest were lined up four apiece on the two beds in Springer and Shapir’s room, and bound at the wrists and ankles and then to each other. Romano’s bullet-riddled corpse was left at his bound comrades’ feet as a warning. Of the other members of Israel’s team, Racwalker Prof. Shaul Ladany had been jolted awake in Apartment 2 by Gutfreund’s screams and escaped by jumping off a balcony and then running through the rear yard. The other four residents of that apartment. Three more membores were housed 900km from Munich. The assassins were subsequently reported to be part of the Palestinian Fedayeen from refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

What was the outcome of the attack? (Bethany and Monica) The hostages were shot by the terrorists, 3 terrorists were captured and imprisoned in Germany and 5 were shot. Less than 2 months later two other black September members hijacked a plane and threatened to blow it up unless the German government released the 3 imprisoned terrorists were released.

Who was involved? (Laura and Ellia) 8 Palestinian Terrorists in the Black September group entered the Olympic Village and took 11 Israeli olympians as hostages. Two of the Israelis were killed. 5 Terrorists, a policeman and the 9 Israelis died - 17 people died in total.

Why did it occur? What was the point of the terrorist attack? (Tashya)

The primary cause of the attack by Black September would be the Israel Palestinian conflict.

- The Palestinian hostage takers demanded the release and safe passage to Egypt of 234 Palestinians and non-Arabs that were jailed in Israel. - The release of two German terrorists, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof ( founders of the German Red Army Faction) who were held by the German penitentiary system, was also demanded.

How successful were the German police? (Emma and Livvie)

= Operation Wrath of God = Operation wrath of God was a covert operation directed by Israel and the Mossad targeting individuals allegedly involved in the 1972 Munich massacre in which 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team were murdered. The targets were members of the Palestinian armed militant group Black September and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) operatives. Authorized by Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in the autumn of 1972, the operation is believed to have continued for over 20 years.

//Several hours before each assassination, each target's family received flowers with a condolence card reading: "A reminder we do not forget or forgive."//

Complete the following document by using wikipedia: operation wrath of god Operation wrath of God Wikipedia

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