Gov’t Archives Reveal Germans Turned Backs on Munich Victims

INN ^ | 8/29/12 | Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

[Nachum]

Germany did not even make a “minimal effort” to save the lives of 11 Israeli athletes massacred by Arab terrorists at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, according to Israeli government archives that were opened up after 40 years.

The documents include statement by then-Mossad director Tzvi Zamir, who returned from Munich after the massacre and told Prime Minister Golda Meir and senior ministers of apathy and lack of professionalism displayed by German authorities.

“They didn't make even a minimal effort to save lives, didn't take even a minimal risk to save people, neither theirs nor ours, Zamir said, adding that Germany’s main interest was for the Olympics to continue.

After 40 years, the International Olympic Committee still refuses to hold a ceremony of one-minute of silence at the opening of the Games to remember the murder victims.

The documents from the archives were translated into English and sent to Germany.

Zamir said that Germany made little effort to catch the terrorists or even determine how many there were as they left the Olympic Village after the massacre.

[Nachum]

Gov’t Archives Reveal Germans Turned Backs on Munich Victims Germany did not even make a “minimal effort” to save Israelis from the Munich Massacre, according to Israeli archives.

[DPMD]

Why, I’m shocked. Had it been France, the government would have helped the terrorists even more.

[Jeff Chandler]

Germans tacitly complicit in the killing of Jews? Wow, there certainly is no precedent for that, is there?

[SJSAMPLE]

The Germans weren’t anywhere near ready for something like the Munich massacre. The results of that and the failed attempt to take down the terroists in the helicopters led to the creation of GSG-9, one of the world’s premier anti-terror units.

[Red Badger]

Willy Brandt was Chancellor of West Germany at the time......

[trailhkr1]

Gov’t Archives Reveal Germans Turned Backs on Munich Victims Germany did not even make a “minimal effort” to save Israelis from the Munich Massacre, according to Israeli archives.

I don't think they did not want to do anything or turned their backs but they were caught off guard and this was pretty much an unprecedented attack ..just as 9/11 was to the the US.

German/Olympic authorities probably figured the hostages would be unharmed if demands would be met.

[vbmoneyspender]

This is not particularly new news. On the other hand, the German disgrace at Munich (where some of the police actually refused to fire on the terrorists) caused them to do a wholesale rethink of how they responded to terrorist hostage taking.

Unbeknownst to the terrorists, GSG-9 had been following the aircraft, on board a modified Lufthansa 707, since it had landed in Cyprus . The "alert" 30-man group had been airborne soon after the German government learned of the airliner's destination. This group flew from Bonn to Cyprus then on to Ankara and back home after learning. A second 30-man unit, which included commander Ulrich Wegener, had meanwhile flown from Germany to Dubai. The cooperative Somali government permitted Wegener's GSG-9 flight to land. Upon arrival, the troopers were surprised to find that the Somali commandos had set up a security perimeter around the airport and were able to provide much-needed intelligence. Following procedure, GSG-9 deployed sniper and reconnaissance teams, and prepared to assault the plane immediately, in case such event dictated that such an emergency response was required. It was not, and along with the the recently arrived second element of GSG-9, planning began in earnest.

As the night wore on, officials came to the conclusion that, given Mahmoud's growing instability and having already proven his willingness to execute hostages, a rescue operation would be authorized. At 2315, sections of the assault element began their covert approach to the aircraft. Two SAS men, who had accompanied GSG-9 and were skilled in the use of "flash-bang" grenades, accompanied the assault teams. At 205, In an attempt to cause at least some of the terrorists to come to the cockpit (thereby establishing their whereabouts), the Somali commandos lit a bright signal fire a few hundred feet from the front of the plane. The reconnaissance team assigned to that section of the aircraft reported that in fact two of the terrorists, including "Captain Mahmoud", had gone to the cockpit and were confusedly observing the fire.

At the same time, GSG-9 commandos, using specially designed, rubber coated ladders, made entry through the aircraft doors. At 2:07, the emergency doors were blown open with explosive charges and the SAS operatives, who had managed to sneak undetected onto the wings, tossed their grenades inside. With this, GSG-9 entered the plane, ordering the hostages to the ground. Within seconds, three of the terrorists were killed, and the fourth severely wounded. The operation was officially over by 212, when all the hostages were retrieved unharmed, with one GSG-9 operative slightly injured by gunfire. The same could not be said for Schleyer, the German businessman abducted a month earlier whose body was recovered three days later.

[skinkinthegrass]

will the Libitards ever learn?.....
judging by their behavior..NOT very unlikely.

[skinkinthegrass]

thank you, for the information:
sometimes our memories DO become foggy.

[Moltke]

It was basically the village cops providing ‘security’ at the 72 Munich games. Wholly unprepared for what then happened. ‘Dazed and confused’ comes to mind.

Hindsight is 20:20.

[Alberta's Child]

German/Olympic authorities probably figured the hostages would be unharmed if demands would be met.

They might have been right about that, too. I was too young to remember the 1972 "Black September" terrorist attack in Munich, but I will say that it wasn't until decades later that I read the details of the incident and learned that most of the casualties would most accurately described as victims of a botched rescue operation.

In defense of both the Israeli and German officials (and the Olympic officials as well), dealing with this type of incident would have been absolutely confusing even under the best of circumstances. When you have terrorists with no known national affiliation acting in Country A, taking hostages who are citizens of Country B, and demanding safe passage for other prisoners in Country C, there is bound to be a lot of diplomatic and legal wrangling behind the scenes that will ultimately impede the response.

I'm sure Olympic officials and governments of host countries are much better prepared for this sort of thing now, but nobody is ever prepared the first time something like this happens. See 9/11 as Exhibit A on this one.

[RobbyS]

Anymore than we were ready for something like 9/11. Like France’s Maginot Line, our guns were pointe din the wrong direction. Plus we must give Black September and Al Kaido their due, the attacks were brilliantly coordinated. What I find most reprehensible—and telling—is the refusal to cancel the rest of the games.

[CORedneck]

The Olympic committee are cowards and have no sense of decency to to something simple. Kind of reminds me of the movie, “School Ties” where the Jewish f-ball player told those who hated to meet him outside and no one went out and he called them cowards.

[Slump Tester]

"German/Olympic authorities probably figured the hostages would be unharmed if demands would be met."

BS! They were GERMANS. It hadn't really been that many years since the holocaust. What makes you think they gave a shit about a handful of Jews?

I remember watching that as a kid, and my father pointing out the total lack of concern and ineptness on full display. All the krauts did was watch.

[Slump Tester]

(and eventually did a half-assed “rescue”mission.) I got so steamed up I left that off. How many “rescuers” died in that mission?

[dfwgator]

It was a Cluster-You-Know-What of the highest order. The Keystone Kops would have done a better job.

[dfwgator]

Hindsight is 20:20.

It was inexcusable.

[Covenantor]

Hindsight is 20:20

Same as revisionist history.

By 1972 the Baader-Meinhoff Group of German terrorists was history but resurfaced remnants formed the Red Army Faction. Both had not only ties to the PLO but members of both had trained in PLO camps oin Lebanon. Does the name Rudi the Red mean anything to you?

The Red Brigades had bloody actions in Italy at the same time. By 1968 "The Anarchists Cookbook" had become contraband in most European countries.

So while dedicated military anti-terror groups might not have been formed by the time of the 1972 Olympics, every country had dedicated anti-terror units with attendant intelligence teams. These police units were well aware o the international web of terrorist ties and the powerful role of soviet support for all of them, though sometimes at several removes. The chief training camps for international terrorists were in Libya and Lebanon and Cuba in the western hemisphere.

One of the deeper problems that W.Germany faced was the infiltration of their intelligence and police units by E. German Stasi agents, indirectly controlled by the Soviets. The full extent wasn't revealed until the collapse of communism. Beyond providing intelligence to the Stasi these moles were agente provocateurs. In one significant instance creating a student martyr. During one of the early student riots a W. German policeman shot and killed a student riot causing an inflamed reaction and fuel specifically for the Baader-Meinhoff Group. The policeman was later revealed to be a member of the Communist party and a Stasi agent to boot.

1968 was as bloody in Europe as it was here. Absent the urban black riots but aced by the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. So to say that It was basically the village cops providing ?security? at the 72 Munich games.shows an ignorance of history of a critical era of our times.

Munich a village? LOL

[dfwgator]

The IOC President at the time, Avery Brundage, was a hardcore anti-semite, who had forced Jewish members of the 1936 US Olympic Relay team, to not run, out of fear of offending Herr Hitler.

[dfwgator]

Munich wanted to portray itself as “The Happy Games”, to show that they had overcome their Nazi past, so security was lax.