In the spring of 1966, at the IOC session in Rome, Munich was chosen to host the 1972 Olympic Games.
Previously, Germany hosted the Olympic Games in 1936, and this was the only time that the same country hosted the Winter and Summer Olympics in the same year.
The Olympic Games in Berlin are remembered for their pomp, gloomy solemnity, and widespread propaganda of the ideas of fascism.
According to the organizers of the competition, the 1972 Olympics in Munich was supposed to be the complete opposite, to symbolize the revival of the main principles of the Olympic movement, freedom, independence of sport from politics, and the unity of athletes from all over the world.
This is exactly what the German artist Otto Eicher, the author of the official emblem of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, wanted to say with his work.
However, the alternating black and white stripes in the corona of the rays of light turned out to be darkly prophetic. The terrorist attack in Munich 1972 became one of the darkest pages in the history of world sports.
Preparations for the 1972 Munich Olympics
The organizers of the games did a great job of preparing for the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
There were practically no sports facilities in the city suitable for hosting international competitions, which is why almost all Olympic venues were built specifically for the 20th Games.
The main of these structures were:
- Olympic Stadium, designed for 80 thousand spectators.
- Swimming pool with stands for 9 thousand people.
- A universal sports hall with a capacity of 14 thousand seats.
- Velodrome with a capacity of 5 thousand fans.
- A gym for boxing competitions that can accommodate more than 7 thousand people.
In addition, an Olympic village, a press center, a television tower and many other structures were built.
Great attention was paid to the transport problem. 34 kilometers of new roads were built, transport interchanges were built, and even a metro was built, from the city center to the Olympic Park.
The Olympic cauldron was placed on a hill so that it was visible from all sports facilities.
Opening of the Olympics in Munich
The opening ceremony of the 20th Olympic Games in Munich took place on August 26, 1972, at the main Olympic stadium.
The standard bearer of the Olympic team of the Soviet Union was two-time Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling Alexander Medved.
By this time he was already 35 years old, and he did not intend to take part in the 1972 Munich Olympics, but succumbed to the persuasion of the leaders of the Soviet Olympic Committee.
As a result, the great wrestler won his third Olympics.
The Olympic flame was lit and the games began.
More than 7 thousand athletes from 121 countries took part in the Olympics, including more than 1 thousand women. Competitions were held in 23 sports in 195 disciplines (at the previous Olympics in Mexico City in 1968 - 172). These Olympic Games broke all records of previous Olympics. A record number of countries took part in them, there were the most participants, and more world and Olympic records were set than at other Olympiads. The Olympic Games competitions were held at a high level. During the Games, 100 Olympic and 46 world records were set.
There were many things for the first time at the Olympics in Munich.
Never before have such technical equipment been available at the Olympics. The latest electronic fixation systems have been installed at literally all Olympic venues.
For the first time, it became possible to set results in swimming and athletics with an accuracy of one hundredth of a second.
Never before have the capabilities of television been so widely used. For the first time, more than a billion spectators in all corners of the earth could watch the games.
For the first time, the official mascot, Waldi the dachshund, appeared at the games. Dachshund is an extremely popular dog breed in Bavaria, and Waldi is a common name for these four-legged dogs.
USSR national team at the Olympic Games in Munich
Now, after decades of years, one can have different attitudes towards the Soviet Union, but the fact that our athletes had no equal on the world stage is undoubtedly.
USSR athletes took first place as a team, winning a total of 50 gold, 27 silver and 22 bronze medals.
In second place were athletes from the USA with 94 medals of various denominations, in third place were athletes from the GDR (66 medals).
Young Olga Korbut from Belarus became a real sensation at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The world press called her “a Russian miracle with pigtails.” 
Her breathtaking tricks on the uneven bars and balance beam literally stunned both spectators and judges, rightly bringing the 17-year-old gymnast three gold and one silver medals in Munich 1972.
At those competitions, the gymnast for the first time demonstrated an element on the uneven bars, later called the “Korbut loop.” Now the element is recognized as “too dangerous” and is prohibited for performance in official competitions.
Soviet track and field athlete Valery Borzov won the 100 and 200 meter sprint races, leaving behind the long-time leaders in this event, US athletes.
Our athletes performed no less brilliantly in other types of competitions. Read more information about our team here.
But the real sensation, which is still remembered today, 45 years later, was the victory of the USSR national basketball team over the “invincible” American team.
Munich 1972 basketball
The famous “three seconds” of that game will forever go down in the history of world basketball.
Olympics in Munich 1972 basketball.
The final match of the USSR - USA. In the last minute of the match, the players of the USSR national team, with the score 48:49, violate the rules and the Americans are entitled to free throws. Both shots reached the goal, and three seconds before the end of the match the score became 50:49.
Ivan Edeshko throws the ball in from his ring. The attack falters and the final siren sounds.
The Americans are making a real pile of mala on the court, the stands are roaring. America once again becomes an Olympic champion.
But at this time, confusion arises at the judge's table.
The referee-timekeeper categorically refused to sign the protocol, since according to his timekeeper the game was stopped three seconds earlier.
This was due to the fact that the time countdown was started at the moment when Ivan Edeshko gave the pass, and not at the moment the player receiving the pass touched the ball, as required by the rules.
The timekeeper was supported by the President of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Abdel Moneim Ouabi.
The teams return to the site. Ivan Edeshko throws a perfect pass across the court to Alexander Belov, who throws the ball into the basket!!!
Victory!!! For the first time in history, the USSR national team becomes the champion of the Olympic Games in basketball!!!
The Americans tried to protest the result of the match and refused to receive the tournament's silver medals, which are still kept at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne.
We have the opportunity to show you the end of that truly historic match. Commentator Nina Eremina
Basketball Munich 1972 USSR. The most significant event in the history of Soviet basketball.
At the end of 2017, the feature film “Moving Up” was released, dedicated to that legendary victory, which will forever go down in the history of world basketball.
"THROW OF THE CENTURY." HISTORY OF THE LEGENDARY DUEL
The 1972 Olympics left a noticeable mark on the history of world sports. Along with the enchanting victories of the Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut, the fantastic triumph of the USSR men's basketball team, the tragedy of the hostage taking of Israeli athletes, this Olympic tournament was also remembered for the “victory of David over Goliath”
For the German wrestler Wilfried Dietrich, the 1972 home Olympics in Munich was unsuccessful.
For the first time in his long career, he was left without medals. But ironically, it was this tournament that brought the heavyweight world fame. Thanks to the famous "throw of the century" he defeated the American "mass monster" Chris Taylor.
A successful photograph of that reception, taken by Swedish correspondent Ulle Seybold, was recognized as the best shot of the entire Olympic tournament.
At that time there were no restrictions for heavyweights. And now imagine the situation on the carpet, 39-year-old Dietrich, who is 184 cm tall and weighs just over 100 kilograms.
Against him is an American who is 17 years younger, 12 cm taller and twice as heavy
A little earlier, the American heavyweight easily dealt with the German in freestyle. And in Greco-Roman wrestling, with its emphasis on mass, Dietrich had even less chance. Taylor was superior to his opponent in every way.
In the first minutes of the duel, the 200-kilogram American confirmed the predictions and dominated on the mat. But in the 4th minute everything suddenly changed. Dietrich caught the attacking enemy, grabbing him and sitting under him.
With an incredible effort, after a brilliant and risky bend, Dietrich managed to tear the 200-kilogram carcass off the ground and throw him onto the carpet, and immediately hold him on his shoulder blades.
Later, sitting in the locker room after his sensational defeat, Taylor told his national team colleague that he did not believe in his defeat in this way.
“I didn’t think there was a person in the world who could tear me off the mat and throw me. But I was wrong."
Just like in life, in sports things are not always fair.
Dietrich's brilliant victory did not significantly affect his tournament position, and in the end, as already mentioned, he was left without medals.
But Taylor received a bronze medal in the freestyle wrestling competition.
This success became the most significant in his short career. After 5 years, in the same year as Dietrich, he left the sport. The reason for this was health problems. At 29, Taylor died after a heart attack.
Wilfried Dietrich is still considered the best German wrestler to this day.
In 1960, he took gold at the Olympic Games in Rome. Then he won the 1961 World Championships in Yokohama. And in 1967 he became the best at the European Championship in Istanbul.
The heavyweight competed in two wrestling styles at once - freestyle and Greco-Roman. Therefore, it is not surprising that Dietrich was included in the Guinness Book of Records for participating in 8 tournaments at 5 consecutive Olympiads, winning 5 awards.
In Germany he had no equal for a long time. For 17 years in a row, Wilfried was recognized as the best freestyle wrestler in the country. Also becoming a 14-time German Greco-Roman champion.
Later, after his death, Dietrich's name adorned the German Sports Hall of Fame. In honor of the famous heavyweight, a museum was organized and a gym was named in his hometown of Schifferstadt.
Munich Olympics 1972, terrorist attack
On September 5, 1972, the most tragic event in the history of the modern Olympic Games took place.
The organizers of the Munich Olympics wanted to show in every possible way its diametric opposite to the notorious Games in Berlin in 1936.
An informal, friendly atmosphere reigned at the Olympic Games in Munich.
In the Olympic village, athletes often traveled to their places of residence without presenting passes.
Some of them simply climbed over the fence, with the full connivance of the smiling and unarmed guards. 
On Tuesday, September 5, 1972, at 4.30 am, 8 people in tracksuits climbed over the fence of the Olympic Village.
Terrorists from the Palestinian organization Black September entered Pavilion 31 of the Olympic Village and took several members of the Israeli delegation hostage.
The Bavarian police and German army special forces acted extremely unprofessionally.
As a result, 11 hostages died.
For the first time, blood was shed at the Olympics. At an emergency meeting of the IOC, it was decided to continue the Games.
For the first time in history, the Olympics were interrupted.
The break lasted about a day.
A funeral ceremony was held at the central Olympic Stadium in memory of the fallen Olympians from Israel. The memory of the murdered Olympic athletes was honored with a minute of silence, a mourning ceremony and a rally at the central stadium.
The delegation from the Soviet Union did not take part in this event, since the USSR did not recognize Israel as an independent sovereign state.
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir gave the order to the Mossad intelligence service to find and destroy everyone involved in the terrorist attack, no matter where they were hiding. The order was carried out. 
In 2005, the film “Munich” by the famous American film director Steven Spielberg, dedicated to the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the subsequent act of retaliation, was released worldwide.
From August 26 to September 10, 1972, the Games of the XX Olympiad were held in Munich, Germany. The Olympic Games competitions were held at a high level. During the Games, 94 Olympic and 46 world records were set. The Soviet delegation consisted of 373 people.
Unfortunately, this Olympic holiday was overshadowed by tragedy - on September 5, members of the Palestinian terrorist organization “Black September” took athletes from Israel hostage. During an attempt to free them at the airport, 11 athletes and coaches were killed. At an emergency meeting of the IOC at the Games, mourning was declared, but it was decided to continue the Games.
A distinctive feature of the Games in Munich was the widespread use of the latest developments in technology. All Olympic venues in Munich were equipped with the latest media (scoreboards, electronic computers, laser beam measuring instruments, modern duplication technology for press bulletins, etc.). Television was widely used, thanks to which more than a billion sports fans on all continents became spectators of the Olympic competitions.
The Soviet Union team performed successfully, winning 50 gold, 27 silver and 22 bronze medals. Athletes of the USSR national team won awards in 21 sports. 9 golds were won in athletics and wrestling, 6 each in artistic gymnastics and kayaking and canoeing, 3 golds in weightlifting. Gold medals were also won in rowing, sailing, equestrianism, cycling, boxing, fencing, modern pentathlon, and shooting.
In our team, Olga Korbut and Lyudmila Turishcheva (gymnastics), Valery Borzov (athletics), Vasily Alekseev (weightlifting), Lyudmila Bragina and Faina Melnik (athletics), Alexander Medved (freestyle wrestling) distinguished themselves.
A sensation at the Games was the defeat of the American team in basketball - 3 seconds before the end of the match, A. Belov threw the decisive ball into the opponents' basket, which brought victory to the USSR team. The Olympic swimming record was set by American swimmer Mark Spitz - 7 gold medals. For the first time, Cuban Teofilo Stevenson entered the boxing ring, becoming an Olympic champion at the next two Olympics.
) from August 26 to September 10, 1972.
In the spring of 1966 in Rome, Munich was chosen as the site of the 1972 Olympic Games.
Before the start of the Olympics, significant funds were invested in the improvement of Munich. The metro was built here for the first time, the city center was almost completely reconstructed, the number of hotel beds increased from 16 to 150 thousand, and the access road system was practically re-created. The new complex of sports facilities included, in particular, an Olympic village for 10-15 thousand inhabitants, an Olympic stadium for 80 thousand seats, a sports palace for 15 thousand seats, a swimming pool for 10 thousand seats, a cycle track for 13 thousand seats and other gyms and sites.
In Munich, an Olympic village was built for athletes, a new Olympic stadium (Olympiastadion), an Olympic park was laid out, and a tower 291 meters high was erected.
All Olympic venues in Munich were equipped with fairly advanced means of urgent information (scoreboards, electronic computers, measuring instruments using a laser beam, modern duplication technology for press bulletins, etc.). Never before have there been so much cutting-edge equipment installed at the Games in literally all sports arenas as in Munich. Television was widely used, thanks to which more than a billion sports fans on all continents became spectators of the Olympic competitions.
The Olympic sailing regatta and water skiing demonstrations took place on the Baltic coast in the city of Kiel.
The Olympic Games competitions were held at a high level. During the Games, 100 Olympic and 46 world records were set.
American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals. He won in the 100 and 200 meters freestyle, 100 and 200 meters butterfly and in three relay races: 4x100 meters and 4x200 meters freestyle and in the combined - 4x100 meters, and world records were set in all starts. This achievement was only surpassed in 2008 by Michael Phelps.
Finnish athlete Lasse Viren won two gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Moreover, in the 10,000-meter race, Viren fell halfway through the distance, got up and was able to finish first, setting a world record - 27 minutes 38.4 seconds
For the first time at this level of competition, Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut performed the most difficult gymnastic element “
The matches of the Olympic basketball tournament took place in the Olympia Basketball Hall. A huge hall - 12 meters high, lighting - one and a half thousand lux, 5587 seats, 218 chairs for honored guests. The sectors for the press, honored guests and participants were temporary structures that, after the end of the Olympics, had to be dismantled and the hall transformed so that tennis, handball, and volleyball players could compete in it.
As always, the US team was considered the main contender for gold medals. The coach of this team was the famous coach Henk Aiba. He turned 70 in 1972. The composition of the team was amazing - the average age of the players did not reach 21 years, there were no obvious stars, Bill Walton, the strongest center of that time in college basketball, did not make the team. But the US team included the tallest basketball player at the Olympics - Tommy Burleson (223 cm) and 6 other tall and powerful forwards.
The first day of the Olympics did not bring any surprises. Brazil-Japan 110:55. USSR-Senegal 94:52. USA-Czechoslovakia 66:35.
Of all the games on the first day, the Italy-Yugoslavia match stood out. The match was an even fight. Only in the second half of the game, after a series of mistakes by the Italians, did the initiative pass to the Yugoslavs. The match score is 78:85. Among the Yugoslavs, center Kreshemir Cosic stood out.
The Yugoslavs had their first misfire in a match with the Puerto Rican team. Having won 7 points in the first half, the Puerto Ricans brought the match to victory - 79:74.
The USSR-Puerto Rico match was replete with personal remarks. 47 went to the Puerto Ricans and 37 to the USSR. Ten players, five Puerto Ricans and four Soviets, received five fouls. Ivan Edeshko was given a technical penalty twice. The Puerto Rican team was distinguished by good technique and accurate shots from any distance. Alexander Belov stood out for the USSR national team, scoring 35 points in this match. The final result of the match was 100:87.
To reach the finals, Soviet athletes had to defeat the main sensation of the Olympic tournament - the Cuban team. The Cubans defeated the teams of Brazil, Czechoslovakia and Spain with relative ease. They handled the ball easily and naturally, with natural and unconventional deception movements, hidden passes and excellent jumping ability. The disadvantage of this team was their excessive love of theatricality.
From the first minutes of the match, the Cubans resorted to very hard pressure and therefore already received 26 fouls in the first half. But they responded with sharp and swift counterattacks. In the 10th minute, thanks to the efforts of Juan Domego and Miguel Calderon, the Cubans took the lead - 22:19. A few minutes later the score is already 31:25. The USSR team loses. Calderon Pass – 36:28. The turning point in the game was made by Sergei and Alexander Belov. The score is already 36:32. Polivody passage – 36:34.
The USSR team played the second half very confidently and won 67:61. Sergey Belov 16 points, Zharmukhamedov – 15, Alexander Belov – 14, Paulauskas – 11.
Once again, the teams of the USSR and the USA met in the final. The Americans easily defeated all previous opponents: Australia - 81:55, Cuba - 67:48, Brazil - 61:54, Egypt - 96:31, Spain - 72:56, Japan - 99:33, Italy - 68:38.
Coaches of the USSR national team Kondrashin and Bashkin released an unusual starting five - Sakandelidze, Korkiya, Zharmukhamedov and both Belovs. The American defense could not cope with the fast play of the Soviet team. Sakandelidze scored 4 points, and the score became 7:1. The Americans especially “guarded” Sergei Belov. At first he was looked after by Thomas Henderson, but to no avail. He was replaced by Doug Collins. The result is the same. The next guardian was Kevin Joyce. By this time, Sergei Belov scored 12 points and was replaced. By the end of the first half, the pace of the game had slowed down, which was to the advantage of the Americans. Henderson had a blast with them. The first half ended with a score of 26:21 in favor of the Soviet basketball players.The USSR had almost the same top five in the second half as in the first. Only Paulauskas came out instead of Sergei Belov. Aiba also made a number of substitutions, but these substitutions were forced.
Jim Brewer's game started first, but he was quickly covered. Kevin Joyce reduces the gap to 2 points – 42:40. Sakandelidze misses 2 free throws. But Paulauskas gets 3 points in the next attack – 47:42. The Americans score 2 goals in a row. Sakandelidze scores a free kick – 49:48. Sergei Belov's throw – 49:46. The Americans responded with a throw from James Forbes - 49:48.
A mistake by Alexander Belov, a foul by Sakandelidze and Doug Collins, scoring both free throws 3 seconds before the end of the match, puts his team ahead. But in 3 seconds, Ivan Edeshko passed a magnificent pass across the entire court to Alexander Belov, and he, despite the guarding of two Americans, sent the ball into the hoop along with the siren.
This was Team USA's first loss at the Olympics. And for the first time, it was not the US team that won the gold medals. The Americans showed in Munich that they do not know how to lose with dignity - they filed a protest immediately after the match. The International Basketball Federation was deciding the question - to replay the match or recognize the victory of the USSR national team? Only after nightly debates and meetings was the decision made: the USSR is the Olympic Champion!!! The Americans didn’t even come to the awards ceremony and flew home without medals.
In the match for 3rd place, the Cubans beat the Italians - 66:65.
Match for 5th place: Yugoslavia-Puerto Rico – 86:70.
Match for 7th place: Brazil-Czechoslovakia – 87:69.
Match for 9th place: Australia-Poland – 91:83.
Match for 11th place: Spain-Germany – 84:83.
Match for 13th place: Philippines-Japan – 82:73.
The match for 15th place between the teams of Senegal and Egypt never took place - not for the first time, the Egyptian team flew home without finishing the tournament.
Final command layout:
1. USSR: Anatoly Polivoda, Modestas Paulauskas, Zurab Sakandelidze, Alzhan Zharmukhamedov, Alexander Boloshev, Ivan Edeshko, Sergei Belov, Mikhail Korkiya, Ivan Dvorny, Gennady Volnov, Alexander Belov, Sergei Kovalenko.
2. USA: Ken Davis, Doug Collins, Thomas Henderson, Michael Banff, Robert Jones, Dwight Jones, James Forbes, James Brewer, Tommy Burleson, Thomas McMillen, Kevin Joyce, Ed Rattliff.
3. Cuba: Juan Domengo, Roberto Herrera, Juan Rocha, Pedro Chappe, Jose Alvarez, Rafael Canizares, Conrado Perez, Miguel Calderon, Tomas Herrera, Oscar Varona, Alejandro Urguelles, Franklin Standard.
4. Italy.
5. Yugoslavia.
6. Puerto Rico.
7. Brazil.
8. Czechoslovakia.
9. Australia.
10. Poland.
11. Spain.
12. Germany.
13. Philippines.
14. Japan.
15. Senegal.
16. Egypt.
Video of the 1972 Olympics:
Since its inception, the goal of the Olympic Games has always been peace; even wars stopped during the competition. This was the case for a long time, until in the middle of the twentieth century they began to mix politics into sporting competitions, and then they decided to use the resonance that has always accompanied the Olympics for terror and bloodshed.
On September 5, 1972, for the first time in history, a terrorist attack occurred in the capital of the Olympics, right in the Olympic Village.
The Black September group, whose founder is Ali Hassan Salameh, decided in this way to achieve, in their opinion, the good goals that they set for themselves.
With good intentions...
The idea of a terrorist attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich arose among the leaders of “Black September” after the International Olympic Committee refused to allow Palestinian representatives to participate in the Games, writes Arguments and Facts.
Eight Black September militants, armed with automatic weapons and grenades, were tasked with capturing members of the Israeli delegation in the Olympic Village, who were then planned to be exchanged for imprisoned Palestinian militants. The action was aimed at drawing attention to the state of Palestine.
The situation in Munich also contributed to the implementation of the terrorists' plans. The Olympic organizers tried to minimize the presence of police and intelligence agents at the Games venues and in the Olympic Village. For Munich it was extremely important to demonstrate peacefulness - after all, the gloomy status of the “cradle of Nazism” hung over the city. Another good intention that played a cruel joke.
They knew about the terrorist attack in advance
The situation in which almost anyone could get into the Olympic Village worried Israeli representatives. However, they received assurances of complete safety from the organizers. Apparently, the German authorities focused on preventing neo-Nazi actions, not paying attention to warnings about the possibility of terrorist attacks by Palestinian groups that came from agents in the Middle East, but Germany ignored these signals.
And declassified documents from the Israeli intelligence services indicate that the Israeli government knew in advance about the impending terrorist attacks, writes the BBC.
From the reports of the head of the General Security Service (Shin Bet), declassified at the end of August 2012, it follows that in the period from June to September 1972, then Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir received daily detailed information about the intentions of activists of the Black September organization to attack Israeli objects abroad.
Some warnings specifically concerned West Germany.
Attack at dawn
At 4:30 am on September 5, 8 Black September militants, carrying bags of weapons with them, easily overcame the fence of the Olympic Village, ending up on its territory. The atmosphere was so serene that several athletes who saw people climbing over the fence helped them drag their luggage.
Two of the group of terrorists had previously scouted the area (according to some sources, they worked in the Olympic Village as auxiliary workers). In general, they knew where to go and led the others to the building where the Israelis were housed in five apartments, writes Booknik.
The first person the terrorists encountered was wrestling tournament referee Yosef Gutfreund. He raised the alarm, waking up his comrades, and tried to prevent the militants from entering the apartment. Judge Moshe Weinberg, who was wounded in a skirmish with terrorists, rushed to his aid. At gunpoint, Weinberg was forced to show other apartments where Israelis lived. Weinberg used a trick, taking the militants to where Israeli wrestlers and weightlifters lived. He hoped that they would be able to resist the terrorists, but the athletes were caught sleeping.
At first, the terrorists took 12 people hostage, but when the athletes were taken to the floor below to unite with the coaches, one of the wrestlers, Gadi Tsabari, was able to escape. He was helped by the wounded Weinsberg, who distracted the terrorists and paid for it with his life. His body was thrown onto the street at the entrance to the building - to intimidate and confirm the seriousness of his intentions.
The rest were taken to one of the bedrooms, where weightlifter (and Six Day War veteran) Yosef Romano attempted to attack one of the terrorists. He was shot and left to bleed on the floor. As a result, 9 people were taken hostage by the Black September militants: shooting coach Kehat Shor, athletics coach Amitsur Shapiro, fencing coach Andre Spitzer, weightlifting judge Yakov Springer, wrestlers Eliezer Halfin and Mark Slavin, weightlifters David Berger and Zeev Friedman, as well as the previously mentioned Yosef Gutfreund.
Negotiation
The terrorists put forward conditions for the release of the hostages: by 12:00 on September 5, release and ensure safe passage to Egypt 234 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, two German radicals held in West German prisons, as well as 16 prisoners held in prisons in Western Europe. If the demands are not met, the terrorists promised to kill one athlete every hour.
The fact that the terrorists’ conditions could not be fulfilled in full became obvious almost immediately: the Israeli government, which had fundamentally refused any negotiations with terrorists, announced that it would not change its position this time either. In exchange, the Israelis offered Germany the help of their special forces in conducting an operation to free the hostages.
The German government refused the offer, trying to resolve the situation through negotiations. The militants were offered high-ranking German hostages in exchange for the Israelis, but were refused. German negotiators managed to push back the deadline for fulfilling the demands by several hours. At 18:00 the terrorists changed their intentions, demanding a plane to fly with hostages to Cairo. The German authorities agreed to provide the plane, although this was initially a trap - the Egyptian government did not agree to accept the terrorists. German authorities planned to neutralize the militants at the NATO air base in Fürstenfeldbruck, from where the plane was supposed to take off. Iroquois military helicopters were supposed to deliver the terrorists with the hostages to the base.
Operation failure
However, the operation to free the hostages was not prepared. In Germany at that time there were no special units to combat terrorists. Five snipers who had not undergone special training to act in such circumstances, as well as ordinary police units, were used as forces to neutralize the militants.
“Snipers” were police officers who loved to organize shooting competitions. They had no walkie-talkies, no helmets, no body armor, and their weapon, the Heckler & Koch G3, was not equipped with telescopic or infrared sights and was no better suited to the task than they were.
On the Boeing 727 plane, prepared for terrorists, police officers dressed as pilots were waiting for them. However, a few minutes before the helicopters with militants and hostages appeared, for some reason they left him.
Another fatal circumstance was that during the negotiations the German authorities failed to establish how many terrorists were holding hostages. The crisis headquarters assumed that there were no more than 5 of them.
The terrorists, who had in their hands not only the Israelis, but also 4 helicopter pilots, arrived at the base and found that the plane was empty. Realizing that they were trapped, the terrorists entered into battle with the police forces. The snipers failed to immediately destroy all the militants - their shots killed 2 terrorists and injured 2 more. One of the German policemen was killed in return fire.
“It seemed that the German side simply could not stand their nerves, that they wanted to end this whole story as soon as possible. They didn't do the minimum to save people's lives. Even when the shooting started, no one moved anywhere, but simply sat in cover and shot. It was real chaos,” said Zvi Zamir, the then head of the Mossad, who flew to Munich.
According to him, this was the only chance; the German side did not even offer an alternative plan. The head of Mossad immediately added that he had seen with his own eyes the stupor in which, in his words, the German security services found themselves.
Armored personnel carriers were called in to assist the police. Upon their arrival, the militants panicked, opening fire on the hostages and then blowing up the helicopters with grenades.
Of the 8 terrorists, 5 died, three were captured alive. None of the Israeli hostages survived.
Short memory
After the death of Israeli athletes, the Olympics were interrupted for a day, but the proposal to stop it did not find any support.
A funeral ceremony was held at the Olympic Stadium, where there were 80,000 people and 3,000 athletes. The USSR national team did not appear at the ceremony (by decision of Moscow), and representatives of 10 Arab countries refused to lower their national flags as a sign of memory of the fallen Israelis. Among those present at the ceremony was the cousin of the shot Moshe Weinberg, Carmel Eliash - he had a heart attack right at the stadium and died.
Among the dead Israelis were 2 former Soviet athletes. A 24-year-old native of Riga, Eliezer Halfin, was engaged in freestyle wrestling from the age of 10, and reached 4th place at the USSR Junior Championships. He emigrated to Israel in 1969, continued his sports career and won the right to compete at the 1972 Olympics.
A native of Minsk, Mark Slavin was only 18 years old. In 1971, he became the USSR champion among juniors in Greco-Roman wrestling and was considered one of the most promising young athletes. Mark emigrated to Israel with his family in the spring of 1972 and immediately received a place on the Olympic team of his new homeland. However, the athlete’s bright future was dashed by a terrorist’s shot.
On September 6, 1972, when Olympic competitions resumed after a 24-hour break (the only one in the history of the Olympic Games), a group of spectators unfurled a banner on the podium with the inscription “Are the 17 dead already forgotten?”
Within a few seconds, security took away the banner and expelled these people from the stadium.
Diplomacy
On September 6, 1972, at 3:10 a.m. local time, a diplomatic telegram arrived in Israel: “All hostages are dead.”
A day later, at an emergency government meeting with the participation of Zvi Zamir, it was decided to create a special commission that would investigate the reasons for the failure to ensure the safety of Israeli athletes.
Golda Meir also asked the ministers not to shift all responsibility onto the German side, so as not to aggravate the already negative emotions that reigned in Israeli society at that time.
A special resolution of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, also declassified among numerous documents, spoke of the need to maintain extremely correct behavior towards West Germany.
A few weeks later, Golda Meir was presented with a detailed report from a special commission led by Pinchas Kopel. The key recommendation is that in the future you should never rely on the security measures of the host party, no matter how convincing they may be.
Retribution
Already at the end of November 1972, the three surviving terrorists were released by the German authorities at the request of the militants who hijacked a plane of the German company Lufthansa.
When Germany released the surviving terrorists, Israel took retribution into its own hands. Operations “Spring of Youth” and “Wrath of God” were designed to hunt down and destroy everyone who was involved in the preparation of this and other terrorist attacks. One of the “Spring” operations involved the future Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak (disguised as a brunette), the future commander of the Northern Military District Amiram Levin (disguised as a blonde) and Yoni Netanyahu, Benjamin Netanyahu’s brother (not disguised).
According to the head of Black September, Abu Iyad, it was on the night when Operation Spring of Youth was carried out that he and Yasser Arafat were going to visit the head of Fatah military intelligence, Muhammad Yousef Najaf (who was killed in his own home) and miraculously escaped death.
During Operation Wrath of God, several civilians not related to terrorism were killed. This caused a storm of criticism against Israel. The death of waiter Ahmed Buchiki in Norway was especially often recalled - agents confused him with one of the leaders of Black September, Ali Hassan Salame.
For 20 years after the attack, German authorities refused to release any official information about the tragedy. After the widow of deceased athlete Andre Spitzer appeared on television in 1992 and demanded at least some information about the circumstances of her husband’s death, an anonymous German source contacted her and handed over about 4,000 different papers related to the terrorist attack at the Olympics. The families of the hostages again sued Germany and, after a series of ups and downs, received compensation in the amount of 3 million euros. However, the country's Minister of Internal Affairs did not fail to add that this is “not an admission of guilt, but only a humanitarian gesture.”
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