Overview and Result of the Munich Massacre

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The Olympic Games of Munich started like any other, the parade of nations, proud representatives filled with dreams of gold medals and strong finishes. A moment of glory and hopefully standing tall on the podium as their flag is raised. This is a time when nations come together in peace to show the power of human achievement through sport. It did not happen that way. The world then was just as difficult as it is now when it came to Arab and Israeli relationships but this was the Olympics. The delegation from Israel were a little worried about security at the village at which the athletes were housed during games. It was noticed that many Palestinian workers were employed throughout the Olympic Village and they did not like the fact that they were housed in the bottom floor of the group apartments in which they were assigned. But eventually they relaxed, coming to the conclusion that security had to be good and they should settle down and enjoy themselves while they participated in this perhaps once in a life time event (Maslin). On 5 September 1972 five individuals carefully scaled the six foot fence that surrounded the Olympic Village. They wore track suits and caused no suspicion because it was a badly kept secret that many of the athletes would routinely do this to escape into the city to see the sights or shop for souvenirs. With bulging sports bags they supposedly met up with three or four men who had gotten their hands on stolen keys that would allow them access to two apartments on 31 Connollystraße where the Israeli team were housed ("Munich Olympic Massacre: Background & Overview (September 5, 1972)"). Yosseff Gutfreund heard scratches at the door of the first apartment and went to see what the noise was. As he ap... ... middle of paper ... ...ed States Government. Web. 5 Apr 2014. http://www.paperlessarchives.com/black_september.html. Rubner, Michael. "Massacre in Munich: The Manhunt for the Killers Behind the 1972 Olympics Massacre/One Day in September: The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge Operation "Wrath of God,"/Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response/Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team." Middle East Policy 13.2 (2006): 176-84. ProQuest. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. Sanchmo, . "The Israeli Response to the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre.” Response to terrorism. FreeRepublic, LLC, 10 Febuary 2001. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/537799/posts. Simmons, Shraga. "Olympic Silence." Israel Memorial Day. aish.com, 21 Jul 2012. Web. 5 Apr 2014. http://www.aish.com/h/imd/Olympic_Silence.html.

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