Perhaps what makes the events of September 5, 1972 even more bitter is the contrast to the days before. They were days full of euphoria and joy, Germany showed its cosmopolitan face after Hitler’s 1936 Olympics – and then Jewish blood was shed again on German soil. The dream of the cheerful games turned into a trauma that would not end for the families of the Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists.
Exactly 50 years later to the day, the Federal Republic of Germany has now officially asked for forgiveness; for the failure of their security agencies and decades of refusing to address their misconduct. At the Fürstenfeldbruck air base, the place where the liberation of the hostages failed and nine Israeli athletes and a German policeman lost their lives. The memorial service was attended by around 800 guests, including relatives and descendants of the victims of the attack and Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog.
“We wanted to be good hosts, but we didn’t live up to the trust that the Israeli athletes and their families placed in Germany,” said German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in his speech, speaking of a “triple failure on the part of the Germans Authorities”: The first concerns the preparation of the games and the security concept. The second includes the events of September 5th and 6th, 1972. The third failure is then “the silence, the suppression, the forgetting” of the Federal Republic. Steinmeier asked “for forgiveness for the lack of protection and the lack of education.”
With that, the Federal President did what the families of the victims had been waiting for for 50 years. For decades, the German authorities had stonewalled, reacted dismissively to the insistence of the bereaved to clarify the events, and glossed over their own mistakes. Ankie Spitzer, widow of fencing coach André Spitzer, who was murdered in Fürstenfeldbruck, recently spoke of “50 years of abuse, lies, humiliation and rejection by the German government and in particular by the Bavarian authorities”. At times it was unclear whether she would even attend the memorial service after there was still disagreement about compensation a few days before the anniversary. Now 28 million euros are to flow from Germany to the eleven families of the Israeli bereaved. For this purpose, the events of that time are to be dealt with by a commission of historians, staffed with experts from Germany and Israel.
Steinmeier thanked Spitzer, the victims’ families and his Israeli counterpart for coming. “Without an Israeli presence, a dignified commemoration is inconceivable.” The Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, who spoke the opening words, also thanked the Israeli guests for “sharing their commemoration with us”. Söder apologized on behalf of the Free State of Bavaria for the “mistakes that were made” and that it took so long to acknowledge them. Federal Interior Minister Faeser also apologized and promised to take decisive action to counteract anti-Semitism.
Several speakers recalled September 5, 1972 in moving words. “My daughter was a hostess in the Olympic Village,” said Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community in Munich and Upper Bavaria. “She came back half human that day. But: She came back.” Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog remembered hearing about the assassination on the radio with his father as a child. Since then he has had a “scar in his heart”. He thanked the German Federal President for the “decision to take responsibility.” For too long it had been misunderstood that the attack was not a Jewish-Israeli tragedy but a global tragedy.
Knobloch and Herzog also criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for preventing joint commemoration for so long. In 1972 the competitions were resumed after only a day’s interruption. The incumbent IOC President Thomas Bach also spoke and thanked Israel for always taking part in the Olympic Games and for being represented on this day. “You gave us your hand. We will always be grateful for that.”
The widow Ankie Spitzer gave the last, probably most poignant speech. “When they killed you, they killed a part of me. But not my love for you,” she addressed her husband André directly. Spitzer was relieved that after 50 years her goal had been reached. “You can find peace now, and so can I – until we meet again, my love.” Nevertheless, she could not end the events. “The hole in my heart will never go away.”
At the end, the names of the twelve victims were read out and a minute’s silence was held. Overall, this afternoon was also marked by contrasts: On the one hand, relief about the short-term agreement and the overdue apology. On the other hand, the speeches mentioned charges and pain and the bitter knowledge that no commemoration can undo what happened. For Charlotte Knobloch, however, optimism prevailed. Turning to IOC President Bach, she expressed the wish to have the Olympic Games take place in Munich again. “Young people deserve to feel that joy, that hope and that happiness.”
