Israeli survivors keep in mind Munich Olympic bloodbath, 50 years on By Reuters

By Lee Marzel

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Ankie Spitzer was 26 years outdated when her husband Andre, a coach of the Israeli fencing workforce, was killed by Palestinian gunmen on the 1972 Munich Olympics, 50 years in the past this week, and the recollections of that day have dominated her life ever since.

The assault on the Israeli workforce by gunmen related to the Palestinian militant group Black September shocked the world, taking part in out largely on reside tv watched by hundreds of thousands of viewers.

On the finish, 11 members of the Israeli workforce had been lifeless in addition to one German police officer and 5 of the Palestinian gunmen. German and Olympic authorities confronted bitter criticism for his or her response to the assault.

“I used to be solely married one yr and three months to Andre, we had been a younger couple, very a lot in love with a small child, you realize, we had been on high of the world,” Spitzer advised Reuters forward of a ceremony in Germany this week commemorating the bloodbath.

“I used to be with him on the Olympics, and I used to be within the room after they had been murdered, only a few hours afterwards, and I regarded round, all the things was with blood,” she stated.

“I stated to myself…if they will do that I’ll by no means shut up, I’ll by no means cease speaking about it, just for one purpose, in order that this may by no means ever occur once more.”

When the militants infiltrated the poorly defended Olympic Village within the early hours of Sept. 5, 1972, and broke their manner into the Israeli flats, it was the beginning of a bloody 24-hour standoff which started with a battle between the gunmen and unarmed athletes who tried to defend themselves.

The attackers demanded the discharge of greater than 200 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons in addition to that of the German Pink Military Faction radicals Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof and a airplane to the Center East.

After one rescue try was referred to as off when police realized it was being broadcast on reside tv, German authorities subsequently agreed to take the attackers and a lot of hostages to the airport.

An extra rescue try additionally failed with a firefight breaking out at Furstenfeldbruck Air Base, which lastly ended when the surviving gunmen had been captured.

Together with different kinfolk and survivors, Spitzer had initially refused to attend Monday’s ceremony in Munich, angered by what they thought-about derisory compensation provides from Germany, till a 28 million euro ($28 million) settlement was reached final week.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will attend the ceremony in Munich on Monday with German leaders together with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier however for many who lived by means of it, the scars won’t fade.

“For me the 1972 trauma will stay,” stated Ilana Romano, whose husband Joseph, a weightlifter, was one other of the athletes killed within the assault.

“I hope that the world higher understands and is able to do extra, and an important factor is to not help terror and perceive that terrorism destroys each good factor.”

($1 = 1.0049 euros)