11 Israeli players and coaches were killed during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Even today the whole world has not forgotten this incident.
11 Israeli players were killed in the 1972 Munich Olympics
Image Credit source: AP
There are thousands of stories accumulated in the history of the Olympics. The record is recorded. Every time a new event, record is recorded in the Olympic book, but there is also an event which never happened before and probably will never happen now. In the history of the Olympics so far, the dates of September 5 and 6 still shake the hearts of the whole world. The year was 1972, which may have been more than 50 years today, but the Munich Olympics is remembered only for the massacre. The carnage that snatched 11 shining stars of the sports world from this world. Those who came to the Munich Olympics were expecting to win medals, but they got death. During the 1972 Olympics, 2 terrorist organizations took 11 Israeli players hostage and killed them. Most of the players who died were wrestlers and weightlifters, from whom the entire nation of Israel was hoping for a medal.
Know who were the 11 players who died
- Wrestling coach Moses Weinberg fought with the terrorists when they entered the apartment of the game village. He faced the terrorists firmly, but during this he was shot. Weinberg has also been the youth champion of Israel. He was also the middleweight national champion at the senior level for 8 years.
- A terrorist was injured by weightlifter Yosef Romana, who took part in the 6-Day War, before coming to the sports village. He was the national champion in light and middleweight for 9 years. He could not finish the match after suffering a knee injury in the 1972 Olympics, he was to leave home for knee treatment on 6 September, but on the morning of 5 September he said goodbye to the world. After Romana’s death, her mother and then a few years later her brother committed suicide.
- 24-year-old weightlifter Jave Friedman started his sports career as a gymnast, but later switched to weightlifting. He won the bronze medal in the 1971 Asian Weightlifting Championships. He finished 12th at the Munich Olympics, the best performance by an Israeli athlete at the time.
- Weightlifter David Berger won the silver medal at the 1971 Asian Weightlifting Championships. He was eliminated in the opening round at the Munich Olympics.
- Yakov Springer was a wrestler, a wrestling coach and a judge. He was killed by a grenade.
- Lizard Halfin was a wrestler by profession. He got Israeli citizenship 7 months before his death. He finished 12th in the World Championships. He finished second in the international competition held in Romania in 1971.
- Wrestling referee Yosef Gutfreund was the first to fall asleep when the terrorists entered the apartment. However, later he was also taken hostage. Yosef wanted to become a veterinarian, but later chose wrestling. Munich was his third Olympics as referee.
- Kehat Shor was the shooting coach. He was also a Marksman (precision shooting, which targets high value targets at longer ranges than usual).
- Mark Selvin, 18, was the youngest person killed in the attack. Mark Greco was a Roman wrestler. He chose wrestling to protect himself from anti-Semitic attacks. In 1971, he became the junior champion. He had gone to Israel about 4 months before the Olympics. The 1972 Olympics was his first international event for Israel and he was considered a big contender for the medal. The day the terrorists entered the sports village, he was about to debut in the Olympics.
- Andre Spitzer was a master and coach of fencing. When he was 11 years old, he moved to Israel with his mother. Where he remained in the Israel Air Force and learned fencing at the National Sports Academy. He became a father just 2 months before the Olympic Games.
- Sharipa was a sprinter and long jumper. He was the coach of the Israel track and field team at the Munich Olympics.