Thursday, September 6, 1972. Tragedy in Munich

A German rescue plan, based on an ambush at the airport, went badly awry and was discovered by the Black September terrorists before it was put into action.  As a result, all eleven of the Israeli athletes taken hostage were killed.  One West German policeman and five Black September members also died in the gun battle.  Three of the terrorist survived.

The surviving terrorists, almost unimaginably, were held for only a little over a month before being exchanged for hostages held on board Lufthansa Flight 61 in an act designed purposely to secure their release. They were then flown to Libya.

Israel launched a retaliatory mission which is known by two names, Operation Wrath of God and Operation Bayonet, to hunt down and kill those associated with the massacre.  While there were various covert accounts carried out by Mossad as part of this effort, the fate of the surviving terrorists is not entirely clear.  Adnam Al-Gashey and Mohammed Safety are both thought to have been hunted down and killed by Mossad, in both cases due to their remaining in contact with relatives.  Jamal Al-Gashey is thought to be still living in Tunisia, and was actually interviewed for a documentary about the event in 1999.

As a side note, Black September had logistical support for their attack from German Neo-Nazis.

Wednesday, September 5, 1972. An Olympic Tragedy

On this day in 1972 the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September attacked the Israeli quarters at the Olympic village in Munich, killing two athletes and taking nine hostages.

Black September was named for the failed Palestinian attempt to overthrow the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in September 1970, an event which was a Palestinian disaster. This event itself led to the Palestinians being expelled from Jordan and going to Lebanon.  The organization's connection with the Palestinian Liberation Organization has never been clear, but it is clear that there was one.  In 1973 the PLO caused the shutting down of the organization, whose violent acts had not been successful in engendering any support for the Palestinian cause.

This is an event I can recall happening, and oddly enough I believe I learned about it after the family went swimming on a Wednesday afternoon, something that was pretty common for us to do.  Indeed, we swam a lot during the summer, and almost always did on Saturday afternoons and often on Sunday afternoons.  It wasn't a tradition I kept up with my own family, but I probably should have.  The day prior Mark Spitz had won his seventh gold medal at the Olympics, the first athlete to do so.

Mark Spitz at the 1972 Olympics.

Spitz, then only 22 years of age, retired from swimming after the 72 Olympics, but competed again in 199w after filmmaker Bud Greenberg offered  him $1,000,0000 if he made the team that year. He failed to do so by only two seconds.

Spitz had intended to become a dentist, but the Olympics interrupted that pursuit, and he did not resume it after 1992, other opportunities having developed.  He married the next year and the couple have two children.