Munich’72 cries for its Black September

The Olympic Charter says the Games are a unique opportunity to promote world peace through the strength of its sporting values, and Germany has used it to show the world that its country is very different from what it was before. 1936 Berlin Games with Adolf Hitler. They chose to organize the 1972 Games in Munich, but things did not go according to plan and, fifty years later, they are still remembered for the tragedy that killed eleven Israelis, a German policeman and five terrorists. Palestinians.

“The Games are very sad”, acknowledges the emotional photojournalist Rafa Seguí, who covers everything that happened in the area. “The Games are wonderful. The Germans have worked hard to make this the best Games ever. During the preparation, I visited the city several times to make reports and they planned everything,” said Seguí. The games began on August 26 with more than 7,000 athletes from 121 countries. But the all on September 5, 1972, at four o’clock in the morning.

The Palestinian group Black September (a faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization) has been examining the German security system for several days and was surprised by its laxity. The Germans insisted on showing that they could celebrate a ‘fun’ Games in a peaceful atmosphere and that the controls were less severe than on other occasions. Palestinian terrorists dressed up as athletes and took advantage of the early morning of September 5 to jump over the fence of the Olympic Village in Munich and occupy the block of Israeli apartments located at number 31 in the Connollystrasse sector. After a fierce struggle, the terrorists killed two of the Israeli athletes to take control of the block and kidnap the others. In total, they took nine members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage, which included athletes and coaches. The Black September raider agreed to negotiate from the start. Their goal is to force Israel to release 236 Palestinian prisoners from its jails.

During the negotiations with the terrorists, dozens of members of the GDR Stasi entered the apartments of athletes from other countries to keep the terrorists under control. “I remember standing on one of the artificial hills in the Villa to follow everything that was happening and take pictures,” Rafa Seguí still clearly remembers today. There are guards dressed as athletes strategically placed on adjacent buildings on roofs, windows, and tunnels. Meanwhile, around 80,000 people crowded into the Villa, worried about the unfolding situation.

“We had moments of great fear. We watched all day without knowing what could happen. The hours passed very slowly and everyone was nervous,” said Seguí. The terrorists planned to flee by air to Egypt and the German police facilitated their transfer to Fürstenfeldbruck airport using two UH-1H military helicopters to keep them in a safe and controlled area to intercept them. But the ambush went wrong and it all ended in a gunfight in the dark at 11 pm that killed nine Israeli hostages, a German policeman and five of the Palestinian terrorists. A massacre that put the continuation of the Games in check.

“Without a doubt, the terrorist attack consumed the Games. My bosses asked me to drop the sports theme and focus on taking pictures of everything related to the massacre. The same was asked by the international graphic partners. Nothing was the same again,” said Seguí. Israel accused the West German authorities of not taking the necessary security measures to guarantee the integrity of the participants in the 1972 Munich Games.

The Games were suspended for 34 hours and a mass was held in the main stadium to honor the victims. The president of the International Olympic Committee, Avery Brundage, convinced the international authorities to return to normality as soon as possible with the famous sign “The Games must go on!”. The Games ended with the seven golds of the American swimmer Mark Spitz and the impossible exercises of the gymnast Olga Korbut, but the dramatic day of September 5 will always remain in the memory.