Palestinian terrorists attacked the Israeli Olympic team in Munich on this day in 1972, beginning a hostage crisis that ended with 11 Israeli athletes and coaches dead.
Attack begins inside the Olympic Village
On 5 September 1972, eight members of the Palestinian terrorist organisation Black September entered the Olympic Village during the Summer Games in Munich, West Germany.
The attackers broke into the accommodation of the Israeli Olympic delegation. Wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg and weightlifter Yossef Romano were killed during the initial confrontation, while nine other Israelis were taken hostage.
Hostage crisis captures global attention
The terrorists demanded the release of more than 200 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, as well as two militants imprisoned in West Germany. Israel refused to release prisoners in response to the attack.
West German authorities began negotiations as the crisis unfolded before an enormous international television audience. The Munich Games had been intended to demonstrate a peaceful, modern and democratic West Germany. Within hours, that ambition had been overshadowed by terrorism.
Rescue attempt ends in catastrophe
Later, the hostage-takers and their captives were flown by helicopter to Fürstenfeldbruck airbase, where German authorities attempted a rescue operation.
The plan failed disastrously. A gun battle broke out and all nine remaining Israeli hostages were killed. Five of the eight terrorists and German police officer Anton Fliegerbauer were also killed.
Together with Weinberg and Romano, 11 members of the Israeli Olympic delegation lost their lives.
Munich changed security forever
The Olympic Games were suspended temporarily before competition resumed following a memorial service.
The massacre exposed serious weaknesses in West Germany’s ability to respond to terrorism and contributed to major changes in counter-terrorism operations and security at international events.
More than half a century later, Munich remains one of the darkest chapters in Olympic history — and a defining moment in the emergence of international terrorism as a global security threat.
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