Munich Olympics Massacre

The Beginning

At around 5:00 a.m. on September 5, 1972, five terrorists hopped over the six-foot, six-inch fence surrounding the Olympic Village in Munich. Although they were seen by several people, athletes routinely hopped the fence and no one thought it was odd. Once inside, they were met by three more terrorists who had obtained credentials to enter the village.

The terrorists first knocked on the door of the 33-year-old Israeli wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg. Weinberg opened the door, saw the attackers and shouted, “Boys get out!” He and weightlifter Joseph Romano attempted to block the door while other Israeli athletes escaped. The terrorists fired through the door, mortally wounding Weinberg and killing Romano.

The noise of the shots alerted the Olympic Village to news of the attack. Although some Israeli athletes escaped by climbing out windows, the terrorists managed to capture nine more people before armed German police officers sealed off the area. Once the siege began, the terrorists announced that they were members of a Palestinian terrorist organization called Black September. At 9:35 am the terrorists issued their demands. They set a noon deadline for the release of 200 Arab prisoners being held in Israeli jails, and they demanded safe passage out of Germany. They threatened to begin killing the athletes if their demands were not met.

Negotiations dragged on for hours as the deadline was set back to 1 p.m., then 3 p.m., then 5 p.m., and finally cancelled. During the standoff, a great number of people became involved in the negotiations, including A.D. Tuney, the Egyptian mayor of the Olympic Village. The West German chancellor, Willy Brandt, consulted by phone with Prime Minister Golda Meir of Israel. The Israeli government announced that it would stand by its policy of never dealing with terrorists and would not negotiate. At 9 p.m., Brandt phoned President Anwar [Page 410]Sadat of Egypt. The Egyptian prime minister, Aziz Sidky, took the call, told Brandt, “We don't want to get involved in this,” and hung up.

The Germans decided that the terrorists would kill their hostages if their demands were not met, so the decision was made to allow the terrorists to leave West Germany in exchange for the hostages’ release. Meanwhile, Avery Brundage, the president of the International Olympic Committee, decided to allow the Games to continue during the siege. The public could watch the hostage drama unfolding on one TV channel, while athletes competed on another.

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