1972 Munich Massacre

One Day in September - Massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

"One Day in September: Massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics" chronicles the tragic events of the Munich Massacre during the Olympics. The narrative recounts the experiences of Israeli athlete André Spitzer and other members of the Israeli delegation who were taken hostage by the terrorist group Black September. Despite negotiations, a failed rescue attempt results in the deaths of eleven Israeli athletes. The film highlights the ineffectiveness of the response by the German authorities and explores the aftermath, including the liberation of the surviving terrorists under suspicious circumstances.

Highlights

The Olympic spirit was shattered in Munich, 1972, due to a horrific terrorist attack. 💔
Israeli athlete André Spitzer's story provides a personal lens into the tragedy. 🏅
Failed negotiations and rescue attempts reflect the chaotic handling of the crisis. 🚨
The attack happened amidst a global event meant to symbolize peace and unity. 🌍
International scrutiny followed the unjust release of surviving terrorists. 🌐

Key Takeaways

The 1972 Munich Olympics were marred by a terrorist attack resulting in the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes. 🏴
Terrorist group Black September targeted the Israeli delegation, taking them hostage in the Olympic Village. 👥
Negotiations were attempted, but the situation ended in tragedy after a botched rescue operation. 🤝⚠️
German authorities' response was heavily criticized for its lack of preparedness and execution. 🚔
The surviving terrorists were controversially released, sparking international backlash. ✈️

Overview

In a chilling account of the 1972 Munich Olympics, the documentary "One Day in September" delves into the deadly terrorist attack orchestrated by Black September against Israeli athletes. The event shifted the world's perception of the Olympics as a peaceful competition.

The film personalizes the tragedy through the story of André Spitzer, an Israeli fencing coach, whose life was brutally interrupted. His journey from Olympic aspirations to becoming a hostage highlights the human cost of political conflicts infiltrating the Olympic Games.

Despite international attention and negotiations, the failure of the German authorities to effectively resolve the crisis resulted in devastating loss of life, and subsequent decisions—like the release of remaining terrorists—left a controversial legacy in handling international terrorism.

Chapters

00:00 - 01:00: Introduction to Munich and Olympic Games The chapter provides an introduction to the city of Munich and its significance in hosting the Olympic Games. The blend of historical and contemporary elements of Munich sets the stage for an international sporting event that brings together athletes from around the world. The narrative may include insights into the organizational aspects of the games and how they aim to foster unity and sportsmanship.
01:00 - 02:00: Munich as a Host City The chapter titled 'Munich as a Host City' describes a typical morning in Munich, highlighting the city's blend of tradition and modernity. It mentions the city's preparation for hosting the 20th Olympic Games, featuring landmarks like the Olympic Tower and the Olympic Arena at the future Olympic site.
02:00 - 03:00: Fencing Master Andre The chapter might detail the experiences or impressions of visitors in Munich, presenting it as a 'German Paradise.' There might be discussions or narratives highlighting why Munich is perceived this way.
03:00 - 04:00: 1972 Olympics Significance The chapter delves into the intense atmosphere during the 1972 Olympics, highlighting the palpable fear and tension as depicted by eye-witness accounts. It portrays a scene where individuals felt trapped in a situation reminiscent of an espionage thriller, yet painfully real. The narrative captures the anxiety of a potential attack on a Jewish individual, as Arab guerillas with weapons hovered ominously, signaling uncertainty and chaos.
04:00 - 05:00: Jewish Athletes' Emotions The chapter titled 'Jewish Athletes' Emotions' opens with a reflective sentiment expressed by an individual regarding their brief, yet impactful marriage to Andre Pizza. Although they were married for only a year and three months, the experience was so profound that it feels more like a lifetime. This introduction sets the tone for exploring the depth of emotions and personal reflections that Jewish athletes may encounter in their lives. The music accompanying this narrative emphasizes the nostalgic and emotional undercurrents of the story.
05:00 - 06:00: The Attack Begins (September 4) The chapter titled 'The Attack Begins (September 4)' revolves around a person's experience in a fencing class. The narrator is intrigued by their fencing master, who speaks Dutch with a slight accent, leading them to believe he might be from Eastern Europe. However, they eventually learn that he is from Israel. The fencing master is portrayed as a calm and peaceful individual, which significantly appeals to the narrator, especially since they themselves struggle with inner peace and harmony with others.
06:00 - 07:00: Park Attack Details The chapter titled 'Park Attack Details' provides insights and specifics about an attack that happened in a park. It appears to delve into some personal reflections or emotions observed during this event, as indicated by the mention of falling in love, possibly offering a unique or intimate perspective on the described situation.
07:00 - 08:00: Attempts to Negotiate The chapter titled "Attempts to Negotiate" opens with a scene involving music, indicating a possibly light or hopeful atmosphere. However, the chapter's focus lies in the endeavors and strategies of the characters as they seek to negotiate terms or reach an agreement. Key events likely include discussions, debates, or confrontations between parties with differing interests. Characters employ various tactics to influence or persuade others, illustrating themes of diplomacy, compromise, or conflict resolution. The narrative may delve into the challenges and complexities of negotiation, with potential setbacks or breakthroughs adding tension and interest to the plot. As the chapter progresses, the outcomes of these negotiations start shaping the dynamics between the characters, leading to anticipatory developments in the storyline. Throughout, the presence of music suggests an undercurrent of emotional or thematic resonance, possibly highlighting the significance of the negotiation attempts.
08:00 - 09:00: International Reactions The chapter titled 'International Reactions' appears to focus on responses from various countries or international entities. However, the provided transcript only includes musical interludes and lacks specific dialogue or narrative content that would allow for a detailed summary of the chapter's contents.
09:00 - 10:00: Negotiation Deceptions This chapter titled "Negotiation Deceptions" explores the themes and events surrounding the narrator's involvement in a revolution, which began in 1967. The transcript implies a sense of nostalgia or reflection, punctuated by musical interludes which hint at the emotional or symbolic moments tied to this period. The use of music may also suggest a cultural or historical backdrop that influences the narrator's recounting of events. Overall, this chapter delves into the complexities and deceptive elements present in revolutionary negotiations.
10:00 - 11:00: Hostage Transfer Plan The chapter titled 'Hostage Transfer Plan' discusses the setting in a remote area on the northern border between Lebanon and Israel. It delves into the efforts made by an individual who has established a Fencing Academy there. The person travels from town to town, and village to village, with the mission to impart respect among youngsters through the art of fencing. This effort is emphasized due to the aggressive nature of the sport, as it involves handling a weapon and attacking opponents, thus teaching discipline and respect.
11:00 - 12:00: Helicopter Transfer Plan The chapter titled 'Helicopter Transfer Plan' includes a reflective account where the speaker remembers living in a tough environment. Despite the challenges, it was a beautiful and wonderful year. They recall a lesson about channeling aggression into respecting their opponents.
12:00 - 13:00: Failure of Rescue Operation The chapter titled 'Failure of Rescue Operation' sets a dramatic tone with the mention of music at the beginning, possibly indicating a transition or significant moment. The transcript, however, seems incomplete with only the name 'Li' mentioned, which might refer to a character involved in the rescue operation. Without further context, it's difficult to provide a detailed summary, but it suggests themes of urgency, conflict, or dramatic unfolding related to a failed rescue attempt.
13:00 - 14:00: Aftermath and Controversies In this chapter, the title suggests a focus on the aftermath and potential controversies following an unspecified event or situation. However, the transcript provided does not contain any text to generate a summary from, as it only includes music notations. Therefore, a detailed summary cannot be created without additional content.
14:00 - 15:00: Personal Losses and Remembering The chapter titled 'Personal Losses and Remembering' reflects on the dreams and aspirations of an individual who always wanted to participate in the Olympics. This dream was shared by Andre and the Israeli team who were connected to the events of the 1972 Olympics.

One Day in September - Massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 my [Music]
00:30 - 01:00 a morning like any other in Munich a city where tradition and modernity exist happily side by [Music] side this summer our beautiful city plays host to the 20th Olympic Games there in the center of the future Olympic site is the Olympic Tower next to it the Olympic Arena
01:00 - 01:30 for many visitors Munich is a kind of German Paradise we're sure that you'll [Music] agree well nobody could foresee what later on happened of the AP Andi good afternoon another deadline is coming hands tied in front of them and plus
01:30 - 02:00 their hands are tied like that quite a frightening experience and wasn't any James Bond it was the real thing I just want to know what the deadline appears to us to be less than one minute away as a Jew and was feared an attempt might be made to seize him behind them was an Arab gorilla with some kind of weapon in his hand all seems to be nothing is nailed down
02:00 - 02:30 [Music] it was only a year and 3 months that I was married to Andre pizza but it made such an enormous impression on me sometimes it looks like a lifetime [Music]
02:30 - 03:00 I went fencing and he happened to be my fencing master I didn't know he was from Israel at all he spoke Dutch but with a slight accent so I thought he maybe is from Eastern Europe or something he had some something about him which really appealed to me he was very much at peace with himself and also with the people around him and that was very attractive to me because I was not so at peace with everyone and everybody and certainly not
03:00 - 03:30 with myself being the person that he was was hard not to fall in love with [Music] him
03:30 - 04:00 [Music] for for
04:00 - 04:30 [Music] [Music]
04:30 - 05:00 I joined the revolution since [Music] 1967 retion [Music]
05:00 - 05:30 we lived in the northern border between Lebanon and Israel and it was way out in nowhere and they decided to have their Fencing Academy there he was going from town to town from Village to Village to try to teach the youngsters through the art of fencing to have respect for each other because fencing is an aggressive sport you have a weapon in your hand and you're going to attack somebody and if you if you attack right then you have
05:30 - 06:00 you you score a point but he tried to teach the youngsters how to channel that aggression into respect for your opponent was very tough living there but I remember that year that we lived there as the most beautiful and most wonderful year of my life [Music]
06:00 - 06:30 Li [Music]
06:30 - 07:00 [Music] for [Music]
07:00 - 07:30 [Music] he dreamed always to be once at the Olympics years before before I knew him he he said that he was thinking about to get to the Olympic ones because for I think for every athlete that's the climax of your career for Andre and the rest of the Israeli team the 197 72 Olympics held a
07:30 - 08:00 particular significance because they were held in unic Germany the birthplace of Nazism there was a feeling that this was a huge event for the Israeli team to be coming and attending and therefore their presence in the Olympic Village certainly their presence in the opening ceremony when their team marched under the flag of the Star of David were very emotional moments [Music]
08:00 - 08:30 [Music] the Germans saw the games as an opportunity to erase the negative memories many still had of the 1936 Berlin Olympics which had been misused by the Nazis for propaganda purposes [Applause]
08:30 - 09:00 27 years after the end of the war Munich was the ideal opportunity to show the world a new Democratic face of [Music] Germany sprad yourself
09:00 - 09:30 it's [Music] prous you don't never need help from nobody else all you got to do [Music] now well friendliness was in overdrive it was a massive attempt and it hit you straight away to appear open and modern
09:30 - 10:00 and Shor of their [Music] past to help promote this new non-militarization [Music] the
10:00 - 10:30 past my father he was five times in the Olympic Games five five times very special s he was born in Poland and 1921 his father was uh from Germany originally and he thought that because he's speaking German nothing will happened to them so all the family stayed in Poland during the war but my father ran to Russia he didn't
10:30 - 11:00 want to stay there because he was afraid something will happen to them and uh all the family all his brothers and sisters and uh his parents were killed in Poland so he was the only one survived [Music] 36 years after the Nazi Olympics daau
11:00 - 11:30 the first of the concentration camps was chosen as the site for an Olympic memorial service the Israeli team came to the service along with competitors from most European countries daau is just 6 miles from the Munich [Music] Stadium I think it was very difficult for him are the memories of his family
11:30 - 12:00 and what the German did to them I think he felt this but maybe it was also for him to uh to show something to the German that here I'm coming back to the Olympic Games and you you couldn't really destroy me
12:00 - 12:30 [Music]
12:30 - 13:00 SP is still H him off he's got about a half a met lead and down on the near side it's ver but Spitz is going to go in Spitz wins the go us [Music]
13:00 - 13:30 [Music] and that is the whistle anyway and the United States have kept their unbeaten records the referee says there's three more seconds to play and the only way they're going to score is by going for a long shot they got it and my goodness I don't believe it I do not believe it the rians have got the goal victory for the USSR for the first time
13:30 - 14:00 [Music] ever absolutely fantastic and she loves every moment of it [Music] [Applause] [Music]
14:00 - 14:30 [Applause] [Music] [Music] can for
14:30 - 15:00 [Music] [Music] [Music]
15:00 - 15:30 after one of the competitions he said hey there is the Lebanese team I'm going over to say hello to them and I coming from Holland said to him are you out of your mind they are from Lebanon you know and Israel was in the state of war with Lebanon and he said an that's exactly what the Olympics are all about here I can go to them I can talk to them that's
15:30 - 16:00 exactly what the Olympics are all about so he went over and he asked him how were your results and and I'm I'm from Israel and and how did it go and to to my big amazement I saw that the people responded and they shook hands with him and they talked to him and they asked him about his results I never forget in my life note when he turned around and came back towards me with this huge smile on his face and he and he said you see this is what I was dreaming about
16:00 - 16:30 after 10 days Andre's fencers finished their competitions and he and Ani traveled to Holland to spend some time with their baby daughter ANUK whom they had left in the care of an's parents so the next morning at 10:00 he had to take the train back to Munich um he woke up a little bit late and we got to the train station and the train had had left and I was desperate
16:30 - 17:00 because I thought there he's going to get in trouble when he gets back to Munich because they're waiting for him there and everything and he said oh well another day with you and I said no let's try the other train station about 30 m onwards so we raised to the next station and in a Hoven in Holland that's where he jumped on the train without a ticket but train was already in the station and I I still remember me running next to the and he left and that was the last
17:00 - 17:30 time I saw [Music] him on the night of September 4th as Andre arrived back at the Village the Israeli delegation was enjoying a night out of the theater watching Fiddler on the Roof they returned to the Village at midnight
17:30 - 18:00 [Music] [Music] and
18:00 - 18:30 for is
18:30 - 19:00 so for
19:00 - 19:30 with the help of members of the East
19:30 - 20:00 German team the terrorist leaders had entered and studied the Olympic Village in the days prior to the attack now they headed straight for the Israeli men's quarters
20:00 - 20:30 for the Israelis were in five Apartments Apartment One housed the team coaches the terrorist went there first as they broke in wrestling coach MO Weinberg attempted to stop them but
20:30 - 21:00 he was shot and [Music] [Music] wounded the terrorist demanded that Weinberg already heavily wounded show
21:00 - 21:30 them where the rest of the Israelis were at gunpoint he led them past Apartment 2 which housed the field athletes to apartment 3 which contained the weightlifters and wrestlers Weinberg calculated that they might stand some chance of overpowering the terrorists [Music]
21:30 - 22:00 the terrorists are already holding all five of God zari's roommates now one of them weightlifter David burer suggests that they attack the terrorists saying we have nothing to lose but a gunman understands and Jabs a machine gun into zari's waist ordering him towards the exit and back to apartment number one they got for
22:00 - 22:30 [Music] [Music]
22:30 - 23:00 [Music] as God zbari ran away the already wounded mosha Weinberg heroically jumped on the terrorists he
23:00 - 23:30 was shot and [Music] killed I had some shots so I walked out to the window and then I realized Moshe Weinberger has been thrown out of the door to the pavement he was naked without any on him and I saw that he was
23:30 - 24:00 dead because blood was pulling around him uh this is when uh I thought that we were attacked by somebody [Music]
24:00 - 24:30 [Music] this is ABC I'm Jim McKay speaking to you live at this moment from ABC headquarters unic West Germany the Olympics of Serenity have become the one thing the Germans didn't want them to be the Olympics of Terror
24:30 - 25:00 I had the first telephone call from the head of the team this morning at 6:00 and he told me that the Arabs are there and one of the Israelis was killed his name is Moshe vinberg and I saw his body carried out after 1 hour into an ambulance the dead body was smashed this means that uh he was killed by a machine gun not by regular gun
25:00 - 25:30 I was sleeping my parents came to wake me up and they said we just heard on the radio that there was an attack at the Israeli quarters of the Olympic Village and they said they killed one of the Israelis and they say it it's the boxing coach well I knew there was no boxing coach so I jumped out of my bed and I thought if it is not the boxing coach then what coach is it maybe maybe it's Andre how many Israelis are they holding as hostage in the block around 16 17 13
25:30 - 26:00 members of the Israeli team as hostages this nobody could tell me if Andre was part of this if if he was one of the hostages if he escaped nobody could tell me for
26:00 - 26:30 for the terrorist handed a communicate to the police in it they demanded the release of more than 200 revolutionary
26:30 - 27:00 prisoners from jails in Israel Germany and elsewhere if this was not done by 12:00 noon the hostages would be executed and you have until 12:00 they said that at 12:00 they were shoot I certainly took it seriously because you know I was standing there on gun point there were always two or three
27:00 - 27:30 machine guns pointing on me and the the leader of the terrorist always had a hand grenade in his hands so I had to take it seriously when he was discussing with me he always had that hand grenade the negotiators knew nothing about the terrorists except what they saw three were visible at any one time time Isa the leader his face blackened
27:30 - 28:00 with shoe polish Tony the second in command usually at the first floor window wearing a cowboy hat and another man guarding the balcony door Issa told the negotiators that a second Israeli had been shot and killed while trying to overpower his captors but the terrorist leader refused to identify the dead man or to allow his body to be removed until all the political prisoners on the commun had been released my camera crew and I ended up for all of
28:00 - 28:30 that long day looking down into this little walkway very quiet and in a sense you were looking down into the cockpit of world events we opened up all the radios and the television stations to get some information then at 9:00 in the morning I found out that Andre is one of the of the hostages the man in the room Joseph
28:30 - 29:00 Romano is 31 years old an Israeli weightlifter in the middleweight class David burer 26 years old he's in the light heavyweight class uh Zev fredman another 26y old weightlifter in the bantamweight class these strong men sitting helpless there at the point of submachine guns elaser Halen 24 years old a freestyle wrestler is in that room Mark slavin is 18 years old a Greco Roman wrestler the others are officials Joseph gutr Yakov Springer Andre Spitzer katur and amid Zur
29:00 - 29:30 Shapiro in Israel the population awoke to the shocking news the relase of some 200 Arabs now being H in isra the Israeli government immediately made it clear that in line with their policy no deals would be struck with the terrorists if we should give in then no Israeli anywhere in the world
29:30 - 30:00 can feel that his life is safe it's black nail of the worst [Music] kind at this time I I was the at of Minister gher and the minister was shocked of course he wanted to see the minister of
30:00 - 30:30 interior of Bavaria because he he was responsible you are federal state you know and and so they talked to each other and they decided to go to the Olympic Village in terms of the politicians and the VIPs who came they looked to me as if they held none of the cards as if they basically did not understand one how to respond and two the mindset of the people they were dealing
30:30 - 31:00 with the Palestinians that once saw there was that feeling that they were in charge and that they were dictating for
31:00 - 31:30 Peter Jennings is inside the village and
31:30 - 32:00 is observing this with the naked eye Peter Jim I am almost directly over the Israeli building it will be a famous number before long it's building 31 it's on Connelly
32:00 - 32:30 stasa it does appear to be confirmed though anything confirmed today is difficult that these gorillas are from one of the Very extreme leftwing groups a group called Black September continuous delegations go forward people here waiting but unquestionably the mood becoming more tense they had set a deadline of noon
32:30 - 33:00 which is just an hour and 15 minutes away saying that they were going to kill all of their hostages at that time there were other people involved a friend of mine who was a member of the um Arab Council and he also came to negotiate for
33:00 - 33:30 [Music]
33:30 - 34:00 sh Israel remained adamant that No Deal could be struck with the terrorists but to buy time the negotiators lied to Issa saying they were still awaiting a definitive answer from Jerusalem They begged the terrorist leader to postpone his noon deadline Isa responded only with a new threat one Israeli would be shot publicly every hour that their demands remained unmet we were I think a little bit naive you know
34:00 - 34:30 also the minister the German government at this time thought uh they could negotiate with terrorists they were thinking that they could talk to them and convince them to let the Israelis go but there was no way
34:30 - 35:00 so the time to get close to noon and to think that it's almost noon are they going to kill him now you know it it it was like dying a little bit a matter of seconds before the deadly ultimatum was reached the negotiators persuaded Isa to agree to an extension the deadline now is 5:00 Munich time that would be noon in New York it is now 1:25 here in mun it's
35:00 - 35:30 about 3 and 1/2 hours to the next deadline the Israeli Olympic Committee in Jerusalem has now named the second dead man as being ysf Romano a 31-year-old middleweight weightlifter [Music]
35:30 - 36:00 a lot of uh people I meet in the street or uh at work when they uh hear about me being the daughter of Yano from Mion they uh say oh you know when I was a
36:00 - 36:30 little I admired your father and he was like this and like that and they all the time I uh hear a new stories and a new things about my father and that's how I uh know him of course not enough like I can't imagine his uh voice I can imagine him uh calling my name
36:30 - 37:00 [Music] they let Joseph Romano die bleeding to
37:00 - 37:30 death lying between all his friends as a warning that if anybody tried to grab a weapon from one of the Palestinians this would be their lot nobody has the right to do that in a way I I didn't like Isa of course because of what he was doing but I would I could have liked him uh when I have met him
37:30 - 38:00 elsewhere he was not violent I would have even trusted him uh in his world not his compatriots and his Partners they were like what we say in German gagen Ferg Gallow Birds but isau was different from them we were not only negotiating on how to handle this we also were uh I wouldn't call it philosophical but uh we we were also going into the grounds of the whole thing and I said why are you
38:00 - 38:30 doing it he said we are sorry for you you made good Olympic games but you offered us a showcase and we have to use this Showcase in order to show our possibility to so many millions or even billions of people in the world who are watching your Olympic Games Mark Spitz the American swimming star who won seven gold medals at this Olympiad was placed under heavy guard shortly after the drama furled within hours Spitz was hustled out of Germany on a plane Bound
38:30 - 39:00 for home Spitz is a Jew and was feared an attempt might be made to seiz him spontaneous demonstrations condemning the attacks sprung up around the world there was outrage that the Olympic ideal of peace and Brotherhood had been so shamelessly destroyed but as the day progressed there was also a growing sense of anger directed at the international Olympic Committee for refusing to Halt the games in the light of what had
39:00 - 39:30 happened the Olympic Committee at that time was very arrogant very arrogant they felt that something terrible has happened but they have nothing to do with it Billy do the head of the Olympic organizing committee has announced that the Olympics will go on as of this hour the Olympics the games of the 20th Olympiad will continue [Music]
39:30 - 40:00 [Music] mid the drive ship new land fight the sing and cry [Music]
40:00 - 40:30 coming I go [Music] [Applause]
40:30 - 41:00 we come times of War we are your over [Music]
41:00 - 41:30 [Music] this is a live shot you're looking at right now and we're moving in now on the Windows behind which at this moment eight or nine terrified living human beings are being held prisoner the demands have been many there is someone right
41:30 - 42:00 now and this has happened time and time and time again the door opening the head coming out to see what is going on within 200 yard of where that building is there's a kind of a man-made Pond not a formal swimming pool but a very lovely pond with a little dock where the athletes lie out and take sun and that's what they're doing right now they're at there sunning themselves they are swimming talking about technique with athletes of other countries and yet this Grim terrible thing is taking place inside the village there were people running around the training track and I thought then yeah
42:00 - 42:30 okay you've trained for this for 4 years but it seemed it seemed wrong there was something selfish slightly obscene about the atmosphere in the rest of the [Music] village for
42:30 - 43:00 [Music]
43:00 - 43:30 the Germans decided that the time had come for them to take the initiative food was brought brought in not only with the hope that the hostages would be fed but in such large
43:30 - 44:00 quantities that no one man could carry it alone the police hoped that more than one gorilla would come out for the five boxes could be rushed and overpowered it was a second hope that the Two Chefs could gain access and count the Arabs inside were no chefs it was the police commissioner Mr Sher and myself with two policemen CED as chefs as Cooks but the idea was not to poison the food the idea was that someone of us could enter the room because at that
44:00 - 44:30 time nobody knew about the number of the terrorists the deception had no effect the negotiators reported to the waiting Israeli Ambassador that their plan had failed the Ambassador repeated again that no deal would be made the Israeli Ambassador was watching together with me what was going on and he was not very happy about this he got out and asked for a phone and he called uh the prime minister in Israel and the
44:30 - 45:00 Israelis they wanted to send a team you know by which was rejected you know by the German government of course the Prime Minister had she had a long talk with C brand and I remember her report saying that uh he refused that any Israeli team will come to Germany to do the action and the general feeling was
45:00 - 45:30 that if the German defense Army whoever will take it upon upon upon itself they are capable of doing it well in Germany and there is no necessity to send the Israeli team at that time was the head of the of the mad and um M spoke with the Prime Minister and they inist said that I shall go to be president to see how the
45:30 - 46:00 Germans do this operation vamir immediately flew to Munich arriving early that same evening almost 11 hours after the start of the crisis the Olympic Committee finally bowed to intense International pressure and suspended the games you competitions are still continuing they will be allowed to finish but at that
46:00 - 46:30 time the game will be suspended at 10:00 tomorrow morning in the huge Olympic Stadium there will be a memorial service for the two men dead [Music]
46:30 - 47:00 the Olympic games are reduced to utter silence and one tantalizing head poking out a door something has to happen [Music]
47:00 - 47:30 it was a kind of a bizarre uh surrealistic situation uh in which we journalist surrounded the event with every possible camera uh endless cameras around the Olympic
47:30 - 48:00 Village it was a great story to many television stations and media around the world I mean in the climax of the Olympic Games such an event and perhaps even uh some of the stations took a very cynical approach to it saying wow what an audience we'll get now on a lovely late Summer Afternoon the tent vigil continues in just a half an hour the deadline will have
48:00 - 48:30 [Music] expired definitely had his hands tied I saw it late in the afternoon I suddenly saw that the window was opened uh of the apartment where they were kept hostage and I saw Andre in front of the of the window they asked him is everybody okay there and what is the situation with all the other hostages so Andre said
48:30 - 49:00 everybody is okay except for one and when uh the Germans asked who is the one and what happened to him I saw that he was he was not allowed to say that so he got hit with the butt of the rifle of one of the Palestinians and pushed away and they closed the the curtains that was the last time really that I saw him and after that uh Mr GHA said he wished
49:00 - 49:30 to have a direct uh discussion with the Israeli hostages then Mr shriber said he wish to accompany him they said no you're a policeman you're are not allowed to enter that and I said all right then it's me so we went up there and it was a terrible impression I must say one was by B to one chair and the others were on the two sides tied
49:30 - 50:00 together and then uh the one who was killed was lying there and uh the wall was full of [Music] blood and then we had a discussion and uh that is discussion was absolutely covered by
50:00 - 50:30 the um very depressed mood of the hostages they wished to come to a conclusion which might save their lives but they were not very hopeful in that respect
50:30 - 51:00 [Music] [Music] now there's been one report attributed to will Grimsley of the Associated Press who said said that a police Lieutenant told him that at 5:00 about 29 minutes
51:00 - 51:30 from now Munich time a volunteer Squad of policemen dressed as athletes would storm the Israeli Olympic team headquarters and would come in shooting these are the volunteer Squad of 38 police or west German border guards because of very complicated laws the German Army would not be allowed to participate and there you see an athlete holding a canvas bag in which is obviously a machine gun the commissioner of the police Mr Sher selected some policemen you know and
51:30 - 52:00 asked them have you ever shot shot a gun or whatever you know that was it you know no training nothing Jim there are now um a great many of those security men in athletic uniforms mov moving off in various directions I don't want to to instigate
52:00 - 52:30 any false drama here but it looks at this point like the beginnings of some kind of deployment [Music]
52:30 - 53:00 walking cautiously on the roof hopefully not being heard in the rooms below [Music]
53:00 - 53:30 now you see how close these two men are couldn't be 20 ft now you see he comes out and he gets down on his hands and knees that's for him to get a better look up [Music]
53:30 - 54:00 outside our studio here and around the Olympic Village a crowd estimated at 75 to 880,000 people has gathered awaiting the outcome of this this building now swarming with Germans trying to rescue the Israelis the deadline appears to us to be less than 1 minute
54:00 - 54:30 away anything to report at all Peter the Commando looks very much more nervous than he did a while ago and he certainly has an apprehensive darting about look from here almost as if they do sense that uh something is very [Music] imminent once again there is a delegation directly under the building and and the Arab guard not on the balcony but in the window slightly down
54:30 - 55:00 below him is negotiating with [Music] him and now we've got an official time check it is 5:00 this is the deadline the storming if it is going to happen could happen at any [Music] moment weeded
55:00 - 55:30 for
55:30 - 56:00 [Music] for if you had told me then that the Germans did not have available in Munich a trained storm Squad I think I would have disbelieved you because everybody in 1972 was totally transfixed by a myth of utter German ruthless efficiency
56:00 - 56:30 see 14 minutes to 6 Munich time in the evening
56:30 - 57:00 at 6:00 p.m. the Palestinians issued a new demand they wanted a longdistance jet to fly them and their hostages to an unspecified Arab country but the German government and the organizing committee decided that we were not allowed at all to let foreigners bring out guests of our country who came as guest to the Olympic Games and that led to the final
57:00 - 57:30 conclusion that we try to um give the impression to the terrorists that we let them fly out but try everything to then um kill them or or or bring them into prison before they could leave the country
57:30 - 58:00 [Music] to move the team from the Olympic compound in order to let the
58:00 - 58:30 Olympic Games to carry on this was their main objective the Israeli team and its rescue was secondary to death the staff group decided to bring them to the public airport of Munich in order to try something I said listen that's crazy you have another airport
58:30 - 59:00 which is not a public airport so I proposed to make first and Fel brokes at Target the police plan revolved around a decoy Boeing 727 which was to be left on the runway with his engine idling on board would be a voluntary Squad of policemen disguised as flight crew the
59:00 - 59:30 Palestinians and Israelis would be flown in by helicopter when Issa and his Deputy went to inspect the plane the fake crew would overcome them meanwhile five snipers positioned on the tower and around the Airfield would open fire on the remaining terrorists and assault vehicles would rush in to rescue the hostages there were only five snipers because the police still believed there to be a total of four to five terrorists
59:30 - 60:00 this is Peter Jennings in the Olympic
60:00 - 60:30 Village the Olympic Village is built on various levels and underneath building 31 and underneath in fact all of the buildings here there is a network of roads those Alleyways now have been used to bring in a fairly massive security Force including armored cars and just a
60:30 - 61:00 short while ago Howard coell noticed that there was considerable activity there over the recent 25 to 30 minutes there was a flurry of activity cars were speeding off and we now have a corridor or Avenue of departure available to the Arabs should a deal have been made and should they be coming out as now seems likely so there is a quiet now and an
61:00 - 61:30 expect the Palestinians in Israelis were to be flown by helicopter to First and feldbrook airport but how would they get themselves and their hostages to the helicopters which were on the edge of the village they decided to walk via the
61:30 - 62:00 underground car park the police saw another Ambush opportunity and placed Marksman here but Issa insisted on checking the route first so we walked there there was one of the terrorists behind me with a machine gun in my back and at that time uh some of the gunmen of the German police were lying in the side streets and uh when we approached they
62:00 - 62:30 were crawling away so the terrorists immediately found out that there was danger and they decided to use a bus and not to walk the terrorists brought the Israelis down a passage into an underground car park and to a bus Robert Thompson a
62:30 - 63:00 24-year-old Canadian water polo player saw them leave so then they brought seven of them out they put seven of of the uh Israelis on the bus and then he went back inside and then they brought out more and during this there was one fellow standing in front of the bus with a machine gun watching all them the Terrace had all the guns what were the Israelis doing they were tied they had their hands tied in front front of them and plus their hands were tied like that and then around the back
63:00 - 63:30 they had ropes and they were tied together like that walking out [Music]
63:30 - 64:00 uh the first man that got out was the
64:00 - 64:30 man with the white pith helmet he got out went over to the first helicopter and made a complete check with with a flashlight uh he checked in and out both back front and middle of the helicopter and when he saw that everything looked like it was all right he signaled and four hostages started to March out with their hands tied in front of them and behind them was an Arab gorilla with a some kind of weapon in his hand uh it was quite a frightening experience and you know wasn't any James Bond it was
64:30 - 65:00 the real thing it has taken less than 5 minutes to reach the waiting helicopters but in that 5 minutes a critical piece of information has suddenly been revealed there are not four gorillas nor even five as the police believe there are eight and there are only five police marksmen waiting at firston F Brook [Music] Airport for
65:00 - 65:30 [Music]
65:30 - 66:00 one of the helicopters now proceeds out over the Olympic site out over the main stadium where half the lights are on the second helicopter is now following it and moving out around this tremendously High major Olympic Tower as they depart to a destination we of course as yet do not
66:00 - 66:30 know and we with the German team we move to the third helicopter the third helicopter now moving right by us right over the Olympic Village passing now over the main stadium all the lights on in this Olympic site an Olympic site which for more than a week now has been a place of Serenity and comradeship an Olympic Village which in spite of some political crisis has been happy and now today has been absolutely Shattered by this
66:30 - 67:00 tragedy [Music] I cry home the time things never came my
67:00 - 67:30 way more I will f [Music]
67:30 - 68:00 for
68:00 - 68:30 [Music] [Music] the marksmen who had no radio links were still only expecting a total of five
68:30 - 69:00 terrorists nobody from the village thought to inform them that there were now known to be eight we rushed quickly into the main building we moved to the second floor it was dark dark in the place there were very many people in the in the corridors and around the building behind the building from the window we could watch and see the two helicopters Landing in front of
69:00 - 69:30 us just as the helicopters bearing the Palestinians and Israelis were Landing the police squad assigned to the decoy plane fearing that they were undertrained took a vote to abandon their mission and this was seconds before not even
69:30 - 70:00 minutes seconds before the helicopters landed they told the minister I said I'm sure this will blow the whole Affair the Germans had Marksman on the roof of the controlor and Marksman at ground level but they had no Communications between each other they were just briefed to shoot when the first Marksman open F they would all open for but there was no coordination of
70:00 - 70:30 [Music] targets now the leader of the team he and another one went to check the aircraft the Palestinians were obviously missing the whole drw because they came back and
70:30 - 71:00 were yelling they were first excited [Music]
71:00 - 71:30 and the key Marksman was moving from one position to another blocked by a pillar uh to get into another shooting position when the shooting started and therefore missed uh The crucial shot against the um Black September Commander Issa managed to make it back to the cover of the helic opter unscathed Sniper 2 was more successful seriously wounding issa's
71:30 - 72:00 Deputy snipers three and four opened fire on the six terrorists guarding the helicopters but inexplicably managed to kill only one sniper 5 did not fire a single shot because the helicopters had been landed in the wrong place he found himself in the direct line of fire of his fellow marksmen on the tower like the others he had not been supplied with a bulletproof vest or steel helmet and found himself hopelessly
72:00 - 72:30 exposed meanwhile a policeman standing by a window inside the tower was killed when a stray bullet struck him in the head they weren't capable I mean I can tell you that I doubt whether the snipers were real snipers according to what I listened to the their one was lying on the roof not far away from us he he wasn't firing with a sniper rifle but but they didn't see it yeah they didn't see the targets
72:30 - 73:00 unbelievable the latest word we get from the airport is that quote all hell is broken loose out there that there is still shooting going on but all seems to be confusion nothing is nailed down we have no idea what has happened to the hostages
73:00 - 73:30 [Music] and I only hope that are people the and the Israelis that they could get out of the helicopter but they had tied them together or whatever and uh and so they couldn't leave the helicopters here
73:30 - 74:00 the entire area is ringed off by troops uh heavily armed troops with dogs keeping everybody away we tried to approach was stopped by one of the guards with a machine gun and he said do not come closer they're armed they're heavily armed you're going to get hurt but it's uh total confusion out there just about everybody and his brother and his sister has got got into their car and they've driven to the area they've clogged the roads police reinforcements had a bad time getting
74:00 - 74:30 there because all of these people curious clocking the area clogging up the roads is a just absolute confusion then I decided to try and find the commander of the police and then we said what else what are you doing then he said that he's waiting for armored cars to arrive from somewhere near Munich the police had forgotten to order
74:30 - 75:00 the armored cars to come to the airport earlier and it was only now 20 minutes after the shooting began that they radioed to Munich for them to be sent but because the roads were congested with onlookers they did not arrive at the scene for another hour by which time most of the fighting was over still no word the word we really want from the hostages [Music]
75:00 - 75:30 we asked them to let us go on top of the roof and try to negotiate with the terrorists they refus at the beginning but then they said all right on certain conditions we went up on top of the roof and we started to speak Arabic to the terrorists their reply was clear very clear the open fire on the building I fired into the tower and then told the
75:30 - 76:00 minister should light light down and he touched down under the under the desk of the commander very funny from our view today one of the surviving terrorists now made a dash for it heading straight for Sniper 5 as a terrorist ran towards him sniper number five fired his only shots of the night Point Blank into the fleeing man's face seeing these shots police reinforcements arriving at the
76:00 - 76:30 scene with no knowledge of the precise location of their own snipers mistakenly identified sniper 5 and the helicopter pilot who had fled for cover beside him as terrorists and opened fire on them both were seriously wounded at midnight came the official announc of the spokesman of the German government who said all the Israelis are
76:30 - 77:00 saved and all the terrorists are dead I'm very glad that as far as we can see now this police action was successful of course it's an unfortunate Interruption of the Olympic Games but I mean if all that comes out as we hope it will come out or has come out I think it will be forgotten after a few weeks
77:00 - 77:30 people all over Holland were calling me all my friends my family a neighbor came to us with his bottle of champagne and uh we all was very glad and happy and and they think that I went to sleep then the Israeli Ambassador in the he he called me and he said an I just heard the news congratulations and everybody is is saved and everything is
77:30 - 78:00 [Music] okay originally they said that the hostages were safe now that has been changed uh and an Olympic spokesman said uh uh we are afraid the information given so far is too optimistic that's where we seem to stand so I called the Olympic Village I called every half hour and every time the news got worse some worse and at 3:00 in the morning I said look if you know that something happened then you
78:00 - 78:30 tell me now because I'm not Hercules I have been waiting from 7:00 in the morning and now it's 3:00 the next morning I just want to know what happened to and we keep hearing that the indications are not good that that Johnny Klein may have very bad news after almost 2 hours of fighting one of the surviving Palestinians threw a hand grenade into the Eastern helicopter the helicopter was with fuel and within minutes the the helicopter
78:30 - 79:00 and the the the area around it was was in fire simultaneously one of his comrades sprayed a full clip of bullets into the other helicopter then there was silence and I told the minister I think I have to go to look what the police is doing and then I went to the captain of the police uh company there and I said what are you are you going to do something you have to do you have to move your people there
79:00 - 79:30 you know they pull out the the the hostages or whatever you know and and do something they didn't do anything I have no ORD he said it was was a really tragic story you know and uh so we had we could only look you know and then after you could hear them yelling you know we've just gotten the final word you know when I was a kid my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst
79:30 - 80:00 fears are seldom realized our worst fears have been realized tonight theyve now said that there were 11 hostages two were killed in their rooms this yesterday morning nine were killed at the airport tonight they're all gone
80:00 - 80:30 [Music] oh oh
80:30 - 81:00 [Music] [Music] a [Music]
81:00 - 81:30 [Music]
81:30 - 82:00 [Music]
82:00 - 82:30 for
82:30 - 83:00 [Music]
83:00 - 83:30 that afternoon the games
83:30 - 84:00 continued the surviving members of the Israeli team flew home with their dead the bodies of the five dead Palestinians were handed over to Libya
84:00 - 84:30 where they received a hero's funeral [Applause]
84:30 - 85:00 the three surviving terrorists were never to stand [Applause] trial 7 weeks later a Luth hanza jet on route from Beirut to Frankfurt was hijacked the hijackers demanded the release of the three Munich terrorists acting with indecent haste and without consulting the Israeli government the Germans handed over the thre Prisoners the circumstances surrounding the hijacking have long been thought
85:00 - 85:30 suspicious why were only 12 passengers on board such a large plane why no women or children why such haste in agreeing to the hijackers demands for the first time one of the Palestinians involved has revealed that the entire Affair was a setup organized by the German government in collusion with the terrorists the Germans thought that in this way they would prevent future Terror attacks on their country and dispose the embarrassing evidence of
85:30 - 86:00 their failure that day in September I think uh I think it's probably true yes at this time it the mentality was so you know really on such questions vly brand as I remember very well always made this I can say and do [Music]
86:00 - 86:30 more did you shoot any of the Israeli hostages uh it's not it's not important to to say if I kill if I killed Israel or not what do you think you achieved uh m when we have uh we have made our voice heard by the uh by the word those your
86:30 - 87:00 words the same thinging they have made their voice heard by the universe or the world who has not been hearing before [Music] [Music]
87:00 - 87:30 [Music] it was only a year and three months that I was married to Andre spitza but I remember that year as the most beautiful and most wonderful year of my life
87:30 - 88:00 this is the grave of Amit shapir he was the Athletics coach he had four little children one my age and here is Kat he was the shooting coach uh alaza khalin was a wrestler and so was uh Mark slavin who I think was only 18 years
88:00 - 88:30 old and here's my father's grave and it says on it his name Andre Spitzer says son of Tibor fencing coach murdered by killed by murderers in the Olympic Games in Munich as a representative of the Israeli sport then it says is day of birth and his the date that he was murdered and I always bring him sunflowers because that's his favorite
88:30 - 89:00 flower [Music]
89:00 - 89:30 e
89:30 - 90:00 [Music]