Germany’s president on Monday apologized for his country’s multiple failures before, during and after the 1972 bombing at the Munich Olympics as he joined his Israeli counterpart and relatives of the 11 athletes Israelis killed by a Palestinian commando during the event 50 years ago.
The memorial ceremony at Fuerstenfeldbruck airfield near Munich — the scene of a failed rescue attempt where nine of the Israeli athletes, a West German policeman and five of the attackers lost their lives — comes days after the conclusion of a an agreement after a long dispute over compensation. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Israeli President Isaac Herzog laid wreaths at the site.
Last week’s agreement averted a threat of a boycott of the memorial event by relatives of the slain athletes. They will receive a total of 28 million euros (C$36.5 million) in compensation, a significant increase from the initial offer of 10 million euros (C$13 million).
As part of the agreement, Germany agreed to acknowledge the failures of the authorities at the time and allow German and Israeli historians to examine the events surrounding the attack.
“We are talking about a great tragedy and a triple failure,” said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The first concerns the preparation of the games and the concept of security; the second, the events of September 5 and 6, 1972. The third failure begins the day after the attack: silence, denial, oblivion. »
Ankie Spitzer, the widow of fencing coach Andre Spitzer, said in an address to her late husband that “although we have finally, after 50 years, reached our goal, at the end of the day, you are always gone and nothing can change that.
“Everyone asks me now if I finally feel peaceful,” she added. They do not understand that it will never be the case. The wound in my heart will never, ever heal. »
Before dawn on September 5, 1972, eight members of a Palestinian commando called Black September scaled the unguarded fence of the Olympic Village. They broke into the building where the Israeli team was located, killing wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg and weightlifter Yossi Romano.
Some Israeli athletes managed to escape, but nine were captured. The kidnappers demanded the release of more than 200 Palestinians held by Israel and two German left-wing extremists in West German prisons.
The attackers demanded a plane and safe passage to Cairo. After a day of tense negotiations, the attackers and their hostages are authorized to leave on board two helicopters for Fuerstenfeldbruck.
Snipers posted at the airfield then opened fire. The attackers threw a grenade into one of the helicopters carrying the hostages, which exploded, and fired at the hostages in the other helicopter.
The Olympics were halted for 34 hours and then resumed, with then-International Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage insisting that “the Games must go on”.
Steinmeier acknowledged that politicians at the time also “did everything to get back to business as usual as quickly as possible.”
“We cannot repair what happened or what you experienced and suffered in terms of resistance, ignorance and injustice, acknowledged Steinmeier to the relatives of the victims. It makes me ashamed.
“I ask you, as Head of State of this country and on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, to grant me your forgiveness for the lack of protection of the Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympics and for the lack explanations afterwards; for the fact that what happened could even have happened. »
The compensation settlement includes payments already made. Immediately after the attack, Germany paid relatives of the victims an amount of about 4.19 million marks (about C$2.6 million), according to the country’s interior ministry. In 2002, surviving relatives received an additional 3 million euros ($3.9 million), German news agency dpa reported.
Steinmeier noted that Palestinian activists and their Libyan sympathizers were directly responsible for the killings, and said it is “very bitter that no words of sympathy, no words of regret come from the political representatives of these countries today.” »
During a recent visit to Berlin, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas provoked outrage by refusing to condemn the 1972 bombing and saying he could speak of “50 holocausts” by Israel.