Munich massacre | |
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Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
![]() Front view of Connollystraße 31 in 2007. The window of Apartment 1 is to the left of and below the balcony. | |
Location | Munich, West Germany |
Coordinates | 48°10′47″N 11°32′57″E / 48.17972°N 11.54917°E |
Date | 5–6 September 1972 4:31 am – 12:04 am (UTC+1) |
Target | Israeli Olympic team |
Attack type | |
Deaths | 17 total (12 victims, 5 perpetrators; see list)
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Perpetrators | Black September |
The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, carried out by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September. The militants infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team, and took nine others hostage, who were later killed in a failed rescue attempt.[1][2][3][4]
Black September commander and negotiator Luttif Afif named the operation "Iqrit and Biram",[5][6][7] after two Palestinian Christian villages whose inhabitants were expelled by Israel during the 1948 Palestine war.[8][9][10] West German neo-Nazis provided logistical assistance to the group.[11] Shortly after the hostages were taken, Afif demanded the release of a significant number of Palestinians and non-Arab prisoners held in Israel, as well as West German–imprisoned founders of the Red Army Faction, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. The list included 328 detainees.[12]
West German police from the regular Bavarian State Police ambushed the terrorists, killing five of the eight Black September members. However, the rescue attempt failed, resulting in the deaths of all the hostages.[13]
A West German police officer was also killed in the crossfire. The West German government faced criticism for the rescue attempt and its handling of the incident. The three surviving perpetrators were arrested but were released the following month in a hostage exchange after the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615.
By then, the Israeli government had launched an assassination campaign, which authorized Mossad to track down and kill anyone who had played a role in the attack.[14][15]
Two days before the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazilian and Israeli officials led a ceremony where the International Olympic Committee honored the eleven Israelis and one German killed at Munich.[16] During the 2020 Summer Olympics, a moment of silence was observed in the opening ceremony.[17]
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