Germany intended the Summer Olympics in 1972 to be more than just a sports event. Twenty-seven years after the end of the Second World War, Germany wanted the world to see how its politics, economy and society had changed in the postwar period. The “cheerful Games” of 1972 were planned in deliberate contrast to the heavy-handed orchestration of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

They were also intended to be a part of the ongoing process of reconciliation between the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Israel. The Israeli team’s participation in the Olympics in Germany was therefore of great political and symbolic importance.

Hostage-taking in the Olympic Village – the end of the “cheerful Games”

The wreck of a Federal Border Police helicopter in black/white photography (Larger version opens in new window) Source: picture-alliance / dpa The wreck of a Federal Border Police helicopter at Fürstenfeldbruck military airfield on 6 September 1972, one of two helicopters in which nine members of the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics were killed just hours earlier.

These hopes, and with them the Olympic ideal of world peace through sport, were destroyed when a Palestinian terrorist commando staged an attack on the Israeli Olympic team: on 5 September 1972, eight members of the Palestinian terrorist group “Black September” stormed the Israeli team’s quarters in the Olympic Village in Munich. They shot and killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team and took nine others hostage. In a botched attempt to free the hostages later that night at Fürstenfeldbruck airfield, all of the hostages, a Bavarian police officer and five of the eight terrorists were killed. The three surviving attackers were subsequently arrested and were released just a few weeks later in the course of the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615.

The commission’s task is to address unanswered questions and take a fresh look at what happened

Despite numerous academic publications on the events at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, many questions about them remain unanswered to this day. The present Federal Government has chosen to thoroughly confront and examine this difficult chapter of German history and its legacy.

In April 2023, the Federal Minister of the Interior and Community, Nancy Faeser, appointed a commission made up of eight internationally respected historians. "It is shameful that agonising questions were left unresolved for far too long," Faeser said. "For much too long, there was a lack of understanding or re-examination of the events, transparency about them or acceptance of responsibility for them. We as the current Federal Government are keenly aware of this, and it has informed our actions, especially when it comes to supporting the family members and finally conducting a thorough re-examination of what happened."

The Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) has established an organisational and research support office for the project. In September 2023, the Commission held its first conference and the project held its first public event. 

To reappraise the events in question thoroughly and transparently, the researchers need to consult the relevant historical sources. That is why they are currently engaged in intensive research in the relevant files of Bavarian authorities and archives and of federal ministries and federal agencies. The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community has pledged its support for this work.

The commission’s findings are expected to shed light on the events and to contribute to a vital culture of remembrance that is grounded in the latest scholarly knowledge.