International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach didn’t mince words when he called September 5, 1972 the “darkest day in Olympic history.”
“What began so peacefully and joyfully ended in inconceivable suffering,” Bach said. “We share the pain of the relatives of the 11 Israeli victims and the German policeman. To this day, that barbaric attack fills us with horror, shame and disgust.”
Bach was speaking at the ceremony of the 50th anniversary of the Munich 1972 terrorist attack. The ceremony was hosted by the Germany government at Fürstenfeldbruck, outside Munich.
In addition to Bach the ceremony was attended by German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the families of the victims, president of the National Olympic Committee of Israel Yael Arad and Germany NOC president Thomas Weikert.
Herzog and Steinmeier laid a wreath at the site of the massacre. On that day in 1972, members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage at the athletes’ village by the Palestinian Black September group.
Eleven Israeli athletes as well as a German police officer were killed in the standoff at the village and nearby Fürstenfeldbruck airfield.
The IOC also held a moment of silence at last year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games for those lost on that day.
The leadup to the ceremony was tense as the victims’ families threatened to boycott it due to lack of proper compensation from the German government.
On Friday the German government and the families agreed to compensation of 28 million Euros, with the federal government contributing 22.5 million Euros, the state of Bavaria owing five million Euros and the Munich administration making up the remaining 500,000 Euros.
During his speech Bach reminded those in attendance Israel has participated in every Olympic Games since 1972.
“That is why our commemoration ceremony has an even deeper meaning: We stand together, united in our remembrance, but also in our commitment to the peace mission of the Olympic Games. In this way, we show that the values of human solidarity and peace are stronger than all the forces of hatred and division.”
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