6/30/2023 0 Comments Russian hotel aftermath meaningPalestinian militants had previously hijacked several planes in incidents starting in 1968, and Japanese terrorists recruited by a Palestinian group massacred 26 people at Israel's Lod Airport in May 1972.īut Israel considered the brazenness of an attack against its athletes to be a new extreme. Golda Meir, Israel's prime minister, authorized assassination squads to kill those involved in the 1972 Munich attack. And they didn't know how many Black September members were in the group. But the police had no expert snipers and no proper equipment. Plan B was to use snipers to kill the hostage-takers as they emerged from the helicopters and tried to board the plane. The police officers who were supposed to be on the plane backed out, saying it was too dangerous. Significant problems immediately became apparent. Late that evening, the gunmen and their hostages were flown by helicopters to the Fürstenfeldbruck air base outside Munich, where the plane was waiting. On the plane would be West German police disguised as members of the plane's crew, who would overpower the terrorists. Black September was told it would be able to take a plane with its hostages to Cairo. She told the West Germans they were responsible for getting the hostages out. Israel's prime minister, Golda Meir, said no. But the West Germans had no way to give Black September the main thing it wanted: the release of the prisoners. That was their only recourse," Large says. "What they tried to do was negotiate their way out. Calling in the army wasn't an option - West Germany's postwar constitution limited the domestic use of the army during peacetime. They had no expertise in dealing with hostage situations. Security was in the hands of state authorities, not federal ones. The hours dragged on as West German authorities worked to buy time. The hostage crisis was viewed globally as it unfolded It was at least seven hours into the hostage situation by the time events were halted. The group demanded the release of 236 prisoners, most of them Palestinians in Israeli custody, and threatened to kill hostages otherwise.Īs West German authorities scrambled to figure out how to respond that morning, the Games resumed as normal. They knew which apartment to go to.īlack September ended up with nine hostages, after killing wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg and weightlifter Yossef Romano, who had both fought back against the attackers. The gunmen, having already scouted the location, easily slipped into the building that housed the Israelis. The Games had already gone on for 10 days without a serious incident, and security officials had let down their guard. The far-right National Democratic Party of Germany was a concern, as were other groups, Large says.ĭespite warnings, the idea of a Palestinian group carrying out an attack was not "at the top of their list for possible dangers," Large says. There was the Red Army Faction, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof's leftist group, which had carried out bombings in West Germany that year. "The cheerful Games"Īuthorities were aware of security threats, but they were coming from different directions. 5 to 6, 1972, would have lasting repercussions on an international scale, waking up Western governments to the threat of terrorism, showing the power of live broadcast and setting the stage for future violence. About 20 hours after it began, five of the hostage-takers would be dead, along with 11 members of Israel's Olympic team and a West German policeman.īut the Munich massacre of Sept. Their mission was to hold Israeli athletes hostage and demand the release of 236 prisoners: 234 in Israel and the two leaders of the West German Baader-Meinhof terrorist group. They were members of the group Black September - an affiliate of the Palestine Liberation Organization. when an attack that would shock the world began - quietly.Įight men in tracksuits hopped the fence at Munich's Olympic Village, carrying with them Kalashnikov rifles and grenades in duffel bags. It was the first time a terrorist attack had been broadcast live to a global audience. A member of Black September appears on the balcony of the apartment where gunmen held members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage on Sept.
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