Editor’s note: Denver Post staff writer Irv Moss was at the 1972 Munich Games working for the United States Olympic Committee.
The common area of the Olympic Village was an international meeting place as the 1972 Summer Olympics began in Munich.
It was a fun place that attracted spectators from all over the world. Fans mingled in what was a picnic-like atmosphere. It reminded me of the lunch hour throng along the 16th Street Mall in those days. It was as if people were out for a stroll and a chance to spend a few minutes in nice summer weather meeting strangers.
Recognizable athletes stopped by for a few minutes of conversation and would often sign autographs if they saw a countrymen in the crowd. American swimmer Mark Spitz always drew a crowd when he was spotted coming or going from the wing of the village that housed the U.S. team. The residential areas were not open to the public.
The Munich Organizing Committee appeared to be off to a good start with their desire to make the Munich Olympics an open and friendly competition. The organizers had publicized their wishes to replace the memories of Germany’s dark past — including the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin on the eve of World War II — with smiles and a peaceful image.
Entry to the common area of the Olympic Village was easy. A smile was all you needed for a warm reception. Armed guards were not in sight. The Olympic spirit permeated the air.
But, in the early hours of Sept. 5, 1972, members of a terrorist group called Black September brought the pristine wishes of the Munich organizers crashing down, taking advantage of a lack of security to infiltrate the Olympic Village.
The terrorists scaled a fence at a location adjacent to the village and made their way to the residence wing where the Israeli team resided. Some later reports indicated the terrorists learned the location of the Israeli team’s residence by mingling with the crowd in the common area.Two Israeli team members were shot and killed and nine others were taken hostage.
In an instant, the mood throughout the village changed. Smiles were replaced by apprehension. Armed guards were everywhere.
The Olympic Village in Munich was constructed so that it could be converted to housing after the Games. My residence was on the top floor of what was the post office for the U.S. team.
On the morning of Sept. 5, I was up early and crossed an open area that separated the team residence wing from the dining halls. I noticed a group of men huddled at the side of a building along the adjacent residence wing. A couple of them appeared to be in uniform, but I continued to the dining hall. Once inside, I began hearing about a problem regarding the Israeli team, but it was unclear what was happening. I finished eating and quickly returned to the U.S. team area. It was then that the details of the raid began circulating throughout the village. Competition continued, giving hope that there would be a peaceful resolution.
But as the day wore on, the seriousness of the situation began to sink in and hope began to disappear. I was on leave from The Denver Post as a member of the USOC’s three-person media services department. As the day continued, I teamed with Bill Toomey, the former Olympic decathlon champion, and Willy Shaeffler, the former ski coach at the University of Denver. Toomey and Schaeffler were part of the NBC television team covering the Olympics.
The afternoon moved into evening and nightfall, after which we heard that an agreement had been reached to transport the terrorists and their hostages to a waiting airplane at a small airport outside of Munich at Furstenfeldbruck, to then be flown out of the country. After a long day of waiting, it seemed such a short time later before the TV network relayed the information to Schaeffler about a shootout at Furstenfeldbruck. All of the Israeli team members were killed; 11 coaches and athletes total were lost.
Those were words that no one wanted to hear. The details didn’t matter.
Everyone waited for a decision the next day. Would the Olympic Games be canceled? Some athletes departed, but the organizers decided to continue after a day of mourning. A crowd estimated at 70,000 filed into Olympic Stadium for a memorial.
While the Munich Organizing Committee had noble thoughts about creating an Olympics of joy and little security, they proved naive in knowing who they were dealing with.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296, imoss@denverpost.com
