Munich massacre

Munich massacre
Front view of Connollystraße 31 in 2007. The window of Apartment 1 is to the left of and below the balcony.
Location	Munich, West Germany
Coordinates	48°10′47″N 11°32′57″E
Date	September 5, 1972 (1972-09-05) – September 6, 1972; 52 years ago (1972-09-06) 4:31 am – 12:04 am (UTC+1)
Target	Israeli Olympic team
Attack type	Hostage-taking Mass shooting Massacre
Deaths	17 total (12 victims, 5 perpetrators; see list) 6 Israeli coaches 5 Israeli athletes 1 West German police officer 5 Black September members
Perpetrators	Black September
Motive	Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The Munich massacre was an attack that happened on 5-6 September during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. 11 members of the Israel Olympic team were murdered after being taken hostage. A German police officer was also killed.^[1]

The militants demanded the Israeli government to release 234 prisoners held in Israeli jails.^[2] Of the eight attackers, five were killed by the police and three were arrested. The three were released from jail.

List of fatalities

Shot during the initial break-in

• Moshe Weinberg, wrestling coach
• Yossef Romano, weightlifter

Shot and killed by grenade in eastern-side helicopter D-HAQO

According to the order in which they were seated, from left to right:

• Ze'ev Friedman, weightlifter
• David Berger, weightlifter (survived grenade but died of smoke inhalation)
• Yakov Springer, weightlifting judge
• Eliezer Halfin, wrestler

Shot in western-side helicopter D-HAQU

According to the order in which they were seated, from left to right:

• Yossef Gutfreund, wrestling referee
• Kehat Shorr, shooting coach
• Mark Slavin, wrestler
• Andre Spitzer, fencing coach
• Amitzur Shapira, track coach

Shot in control tower during gunfight

• Anton Fliegerbauer, West German police officer

Palestinian militants shot dead by West German police

• Luttif Afif ("Issa")
• Yusuf Nazzal ("Tony")
• Afif Ahmed Hamid ("Paolo")
• Khalid Jawad ("Salah")
• Ahmed Chic Thaa ("Abu Halla")

References

1. Breznican, Anthony (22 December 2005). "Messages from 'Munich'". USAToday. Gannett Co. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
2. Karon, Tony (12 September 2000). "Revisiting the Olympics' Darkest Day". Time. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2010.

Other websites

Media related to Munich massacre at Wikimedia Commons

• The Israeli Response to the 1972 Munich Massacre – Includes an extensive overview of the Munich massacre
• A Tribute to the 1972 Israeli Olympic Athletes – Includes biographies and photographs for each of the 11 Israeli athletes killed
• Time Magazine Archived 2013-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, 4 December 2005
• Special Publication of Israel State Archives: The Fortieth Anniversary of the Massacre of the Israeli Athletes in Munich Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine