Sept. 5, 1972: At 4:30 a.m. local time in Munich, Germany, Palestinian commandos armed with automatic rifles broke into the quarters of the Israeli team at the Olympic Village, killed two members of the team and took nine others hostage. Twenty-three hours later, the nine hostages had also been murdered. So was a German policeman. So were five of the Palestinian terrorists.
The 1972 massacre is by far the worst case of violence in Olympic history since the modern games began in 1896, and one of the most notorious cases of terrorism on record.
It was not the only obscenity of the Games.
As two Israelis lay dead and nine Israeli hostages were fighting for their lives in the Olympic Village, competition went on in 11 of the 22 sports on the program, including canoeing and wrestling. “Anyway,” went a dark joke coursing through the Village, “these are professional killers. Avery doesn’t recognize them.” It would not be until 4 p.m. that Brundage reversed his decision. A memorial service for the Israelis was held at 10 a.m. on Sept. 6 in the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium.