Munich Mega Quiz - Revision

Munich Massacre

• The leader of Black September demanded safe passage out of the country for themselves and the hostages.
• The Germans agreed to the terrorist’s request and provided a plane for them to escape.
• The second failed attempt to ambush the terrorists was when the police attempted to shoot them as they stepped off the helicopter.
• The first attempt by the police to ambush the terrorists failed because the terrorists were in a different helicopter than expected.
• The terrorists left the Olympic Village by helicopter to escape and the hostages were released.
• The terrorists were supposed to go to Cairo, Egypt, after escaping.
• The German police’s final rescue attempt was by sniper fire at the Fürstenfeldbruck airfield while the hostage-takers were transferring to the waiting aircraft.
• The police mistakenly believed there were only three terrorists, instead of the actual number of eight, which hindered the rescue operation.
• The German snipers were ineffective during the rescue operation because they were poorly trained and could not clearly target the terrorists.
• When the terrorist leaders arrived at the Fürstenfeldbruck airfield they shot their remaining hostages dead.
• Around 80,000 people attended the memorial service for the slain Israeli athletes at Olympic Stadium.

Aftermath

• Arab countries such as Sudan, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates condemned the attacks on the Israeli athletes.
• The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) President Avery Brundage declared, "The Games must go on" after the attack.
• Following the massacre, Israeli planes bombed Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in response to the attacks.
• Several countries, including the United States, withdrew their athletes from the Games in protest of the violence.
• The bodies of the five Palestinian attackers, who were killed at Fürstenfeldbruck, were sent back to their home countries.
• After Lufthansa Flight 615 was hijacked the remaining surviving terrorists were released by the German government.
• Following the Munich Massacre, Germany established the Border Police's elite counter-terrorism unit, GSG 9.
• The IOC rejected the families’ request for a permanent memorial to the Israeli athletes, citing that it would distract from the Olympic spirit.
• The IOC approved a minute of silence at the 2012 London Olympics in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the tragedy.
• A memorial plaque honoring the 11 slain Israeli athletes stands outside Olympic Stadium in Munich.
• The IOC held an official commemoration for the Israeli athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympics, which included a moment of silence.
• In 2017, The Bavarian State Government constructed a memorial in the Munich Olympic Park with the names of the slain athletes.
• In 2022, the German government offered 2.8 million euros to the families of the victims of the Munich massacre, on the 50th anniversary.
• The Winter Olympics village in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA had been considered suitable for conversion into a prison.
• Since the Munich Massacre, the GSG 9 now implements day-to-day counter-terrorist activities in Germany.
• The German police now take command in terrorist situations in Germany upon the directions from federal authorities.
• GSG 9 is known for the successful rescue operation to end a hijacking by Palestinian terrorists in 1977 on a Lufthansa flight.
• The Mossad chief, Zvi Zamir, was the Israeli representative at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
• Zamir accused the German authorities of being unprepared and of taking too long to respond during the rescue attempt.
• The German Federal Interior Minister replied to Zamir’s accusations by stating that the German police had done all they could.
• The Israeli Knesset debated the German government’s role in the failed rescue operation.
• Following the Munich massacre, Israel responded to terrorist acts with more active measures including targeted assassinations of suspected Palestinian terrorists.
• Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban stated that the release of the three Munich terrorists could have avoided the breakdown of relations between Israel and Germany.
• Israeli Minister Zerach Warhaftig suggested that the release of the terrorists, was part of a larger “political game.”
• Israel’s willingness to forgive West Germany for the events of the 1972 Munich Olympics helped to prevent a breakdown of relations.
• Ya’acov Hazan said, “The Palestinians have paid a high price for the Munich massacre.”
• Mossad’s "Operation Wrath of God" did not involve the assassination of Wael Zwaiter, which took place before the 1972 Munich Games
• In Norway, Israeli operatives mistook a waiter for a Palestinian target, which exposed the operation to Norway.
• The quote, "The aim was not so much revenge but mainly to make them [the militant Palestinians] frightened," refers to Operation Wrath of God.

Test your knowledge on the events surrounding the Black September group's actions during the Olympic Games. This quiz focuses on the negotiations that took place in the Olympic Village and the demands that were made. Can you recall the key points of this historical incident?