Rio De Janeiro, Brazil – Olympics-Israeli Victims Of 1972 Games Honored 44 Years On

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    Ilana Romano, center, and Ankie Spitzer, right, widows of Israeli Olympic athletes killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics, attend a memorial in their husbands' honor, ahead of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) held the memorial for the 11 Israelis who were killed. (AP Photo/Edgard Garrido, Pool)Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Widows of two of the 11 Israelis killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics got the recognition that they had so long sought with a ceremony and minute’s silence at the Olympic village in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.

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    Ankie Spitzer’s fencing coach husband, Andre, was killed along with weightlifter Joseph Romano, whose wife Ilana Romano was also at the ceremony led by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

    “This is closure for us. This is incredibly important. We waited 44 years to have this remembrance and recognition for our loved ones who were so brutally killed in Munich,” Spitzer told reporters at the newly established Place of Mourning.

    “That they would be really accepted as members of the Olympic family. It is what we wanted because they were members of the Olympic family.”

    On Sept. 5, 1972, members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage at the poorly secured athletes’ village by Palestinian gunmen from the Black September group.

    Within 24 hours, 11 Israelis, five Palestinians and a German policeman were dead after a standoff and subsequent rescue effort erupted into gunfire.

    Relatives of those killed have long demanded a minute’s silence at the Opening Ceremonies of Olympics Games, only to be turned down by the IOC.

    Instead, Bach inaugurated the Place of Mourning, which will now be a feature at every Olympics, with two stones from ancient Olympia encased in glass in a leafy part of the athletes’ village.

    “Today, the inauguration of the Place of Mourning give us the opportunity to remember those that have passed away at the Olympic Games,” Bach told a small crowd that included IOC officials, Israeli team officials, athletes and Spitzer and Romano.

    “We chose the Olympic village as the location … because it symbolizes the unity of the Olympic family.”

    He then read out the 11 names of the Israeli victims, the German policeman as well as the name of Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was killed on the eve of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in an accident in the sliding center.

    Romano said: “I never believed it is going to come. After 44 years I am happy for this moment of history.”

    Bach, in tears, embraced Romano and Spitzer, who praised the IOC’s decision.

    “I cannot explain to you how emotional I am and how much this means for us,” Spitzer said. “We went through a lot. We always got a No (from the IOC) and this time we not only got a Yes but a big Yes.”
    A memorial in honor of Israeli Olympic athletes killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics stands in the Olympic Village ahead of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) inaugurated the memorial on Wednesday in honor of the 11 Israelis who were killed. (AP Photo/Edgard Garrido, Pool)


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    7 years ago

    The Germans botched that rescue attempt in 1972; first of all, they were poorly trained, as they did not have an anti-terrorism commando unit, as is the case now. Secondly, they should have let the IDF handle the rescue attempt, but they refused, stating that they had authority. Third, the attack on the terrorists should have been made at the Olympic village, instead of waiting until the terrorists got to the airport. Fourth, at the airport, they didn’t have enough snipers, and they were inexperienced, and incompetent. The security at the Olympic village was bad to begin with. The Israelis sued the West German government for the lack of security, and for botching the rescue attempt. It was revealed that some of the Israelis were killed by friendly fire, from the West Germans. The court case dragged on for over thirty years, until there was a settlement.