Olympic Commemoration of the Munich Massacre

Remembering the Munich Massacre at Subsequent Olympics

• The Israeli team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics commemorated the massacre by displaying a black ribbon on their national flag during the opening ceremony.

• Families of the victims have requested a permanent memorial to the athletes, but the IOC has declined, citing concerns about alienating other members of the Olympic community.

• The IOC rejected a proposal for a minute of silence at the 2012 London Olympics to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the massacre.

• A stone tablet memorial exists outside the Munich Olympic stadium, linking the stadium to the former Olympic village.

• A memorial tablet for the slain Israelis is situated outside their former lodging at 31 Connollystraße.

• In 1999, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the Sydney Olympic Stadium in honor of the victims.

• Thomas Bach, the current IOC President, was appointed in 2013 and showed more sensitivity to the families' campaign for a memorial.

• In 2014, the IOC agreed to contribute $250,000 toward a memorial for the murdered Israeli athletes.

• At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the IOC officially commemorated the eleven Israeli athletes with a ceremony at the Place of Mourning in the Olympic Village, two days before the opening ceremony.

• A "moment of reflection" was held during the 2016 Rio Olympics closing ceremony.

• A memorial constructed by the German government on the site of the massacre was opened in 2017.

The Significance of the Memorial for the Victims' Families

• An official commemoration was important to the families because it acknowledged the tragedy and honored the memory of the athletes who were lost.

Munich Tragedy: A Live Issue

• The ongoing debate about commemorating the massacre signifies its enduring impact and raises questions about the Olympic Games' responsibility to remember past tragedies.

The Munich Massacre Memorial: Purpose and Memory

• The memorial was designed to evoke a sense of vulnerability and fragility and to draw attention to the physical absence of those who were lost.

• The memorial's design uses symbolic elements to reflect on the significance of the event and encourage visitors to contemplate the impact of the massacre.