Historical Importance of the Munich Massacre:
The
Munich Massacre was a terrorist attack during the 1972 Olympic Games.
Eight Palestinian terrorists killed two members of the Israeli Olympic
team and then took nine others hostage. The situation was ended by a
huge gunfight that left five of the terrorists and all of the nine
hostages dead. Following the massacre, the Israeli government organized a
retaliation against Black September, called Operation Wrath of God.
Dates:
September 5, 1972
Also Known As:
1972 Olympics Massacre
Overview of the Munich Massacre:
The XXth Olympic Games
were held in Munich, Germany in 1972. Tensions were high at these
Olympics, because they were the first Olympic Games held in Germany
since the Nazis hosted the Games in 1936. The Israeli athletes and their
trainers were especially nervous; many had family members who had been
murdered during the Holocaust or were themselves Holocaust survivors.
The first few days of the Olympic Games went smoothly. On September 4, the Israeli team spent the evening out to see the play, Fiddler on the Roof,
and then went back to the Olympic Village to sleep. A little after 4
a.m. on September 5, as the Israeli athletes slept, eight members of the
Palestinian terrorist organization, Black September, jumped over the
six-foot high fence that encircled the Olympic Village.
The terrorists headed straight for 31 Connollystrasse,
the building where the Israeli contingent was staying. Around 4:30
a.m., the terrorists entered the building. They rounded up the occupants
of apartment 1 and then apartment 3. Several of the Israelis fought
back; two of them were killed. A couple of others were able to escape
out windows. Nine were taken hostage.
By 5:10 a.m., the police had been alerted and news of
the attack had begun to spread around the world. The terrorists then
dropped a list of their demands out the window; they wanted 234
prisoners released from Israeli prisons and two from German prisons by 9
a.m.
Negotiators were able to extend the deadline to
noon, then 1 p.m., then 3 p.m., then 5 p.m.; however, the terrorists
refused to back down on their demands and Israel refused to release the
prisoners. A confrontation became inevitable.
At 5
p.m., the terrorists realized that their demands were not going to be
met. They asked for two planes to fly both the terrorists and the
hostages to Cairo, Egypt, hoping a new locale would help get their
demands met. The German officials agreed, but realized that they could
not let the terrorists leave Germany. Desperate to end the standoff,
the Germans organized Operation Sunshine, which was a plan to storm the
apartment building. The terrorists discovered the plan by watching
television. The Germans then planned to attack the terrorists on their
way to the airport, but again the terrorists found out their plans.
Around 10:30 p.m., the terrorists and hostages were transported to the
Fürstenfeldbruck airport by helicopter. The Germans had decided to
confront the terrorists at the airport and had snipers waiting for them.
Once on the ground, the terrorists realized there was a trap. Snipers
started shooting at them and they shot back. Two terrorists and one
policeman were killed. Then a stalemate developed. The Germans
requested armored cars and waited for over an hour for them to arrive.
When the armored cars arrived, the terrorists knew the end had come.
One of the terrorists jumped into a helicopter and shot four of the
hostages, then threw in a grenade. Another terrorist hopped into the
other helicopter and used his machine gun to kill the remaining five
hostages. The snipers and armored cars killed three more terrorists in
this second round of gunfire. Three terrorists survived the attack and
were taken into custody.
Less than two months later, the three remaining terrorists were released
by the German government after two other Black September members
hijacked a plane and threatened to blow it up unless the three were
released.
source : http://history1900s.about.com/od/famouscrimesscandals/p/munichmassacre.htm
Tag :
People
0 Komentar untuk "1972 Munich Olympics Massacre"