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1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Olympics was the most socially unjust Olympic Games that the world has ever seen. The games were hosted in Germany during Hitler's Nazi regime and it saw excessive amounts of racism and anti-semitism on a world display. The racist Nazi policies sparked many boycotts of the games. -
The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the genocide of over 6 million Jewish people at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War II. Nazi Germany and its allies killed roughly 2/3 of the Jewish population of Europe. Spearheaded by Adolph Hitler Europe saw 4 years of horrible senseless massacres from 1941-1945 -
Where's the Security?
In the first International display for Germany since the Holocaust the Germans had failed to protect the athletes of the Olympic Village from any outside threats. The Germans spend an incredibly low 2 million dollars on security for the entire Olympics. The people hired to handle security were unarmed and untrained. The instructions the security were given was to look for fraudulent tickets and to apprehend drunks causing commotion. no combat training was provided. -
1972 Munich Olympics
1972 was the first chance for Germany to show the whole world that they had changed since the times of Hitler. It was the first international event hosted in Germany since the end of the Holocaust and Germany anticipated everything to go perfect to begin rebranding themselves to the world. -
The Massacre Begins
4:30 AM September 5th 8 members of Palestinian terrorist group "Black September" scaled the fences of the Olympic village carrying AK-47's and assault rifles in duffle bags. -
The Hostages Have Been Secured
By 6 AM on the morning of September 5th Black September had secured 9 Israeli athletes as hostages. In the process of securing the hostages they shot and killed 2 other Israeli athletes. -
Negotiations
"Black September" did not blindly choose the Israeli athletes to capture. It was a calculated attack in an attempt to negotiate for the release of 234 Palestinian's jailed in Israel. -
The Extraction
German officials offered the terrorists an unlimited amount of money and the opportunity to exchange their hostages for high ranking German officials. Black September declined this offer and instead demanded bus transportation to an airbase where a helicopter would evacuate them. The airbase was covered with German police in hiding awaiting the arrival of the hostages. -
The Massacre
Upon Arrival to the airbase "Black September" quickly recognized the presence of German police and realized they had been sent into a trap. With a clean escape looking impossible the terrorists engaged in a shootout with the German police. While 4 of the terrosits shot at the police the rest took the hostages into the helicopter. Realizing that there was no escape one of the members of "Black September" pulled the pin on a grenade inside the helicopter, killing all remaining hostages. -
The Aftermath
The aftermath was felt on a global scale. With all of the hostages and member of Black September dead, the Olympic committee decided that the games had to continue to honor the fallen. Germany's security or lack their of took global criticism and Israel publicly vowed to hunt down and kill all member of Black September, which over the course of years they did achieve.
