The idea almost came up in this anniversary year of the Munich Olympic Games in 1972: to dedicate a month to each of the twelve victims of the terror attack at the time – eleven Israeli athletes, coaches and referees as well as a Bavarian police officer – in which their biographies are particularly highlighted will. In this way, the commemoration automatically extends throughout the year.
As obvious as this idea is – its implementation is not as self-evident as it might appear. For decades, the memories of the events of September 5, 1972 have been suppressed by the institutions involved – the city of Munich, the Free State of Bavaria, the Federal Republic of Germany, the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The memorial in the Olympic Park for the victims of the assassination attempt during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich was inaugurated in 2016: an LED wall in the memorial, which is open on three sides and designed by the architects Brückner & Brückner, shows the events of that time.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
For decades, the victims’ relatives had to fight for some form of recognition. It was not until 2016, on the 45th anniversary of the attack by a Palestinian terrorist group, that a memorial was dedicated in the Olympic Park. And even last summer in Tokyo, for the first time, there was a minute’s silence at an opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in memory of the victims of 1972.
It’s long been time to focus a little more on the commemoration when looking back at Munich ’72. Just as Munich’s mayor Dieter Reiter and cultural advisor Anton Biebl did when presenting the anniversary program. The commemoration does not only occur once on a day in September, but is an “integral part”. Of course, it should have been like this for decades: remembering the games of 1972 not only includes the happy side, but also the sad one. The pleasant sides of life are rarely to be had without the unpleasant ones.
It is a tragic twist that the Munich Games were supposed to show the image of a new, cosmopolitan Germany, and that the principle of openness and accessibility paved the way for terrorists to enter the Olympic Village and attack the Israeli participants. At Munich ’72 joy and sorrow are thus more closely connected and interwoven than at any other sporting event in the world. Such games include both merriment and tragedy, and there must be room for both in the culture of remembrance. It was overdue to create it.