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THE JEWISH NEWS
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Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper
17515 W. 9 Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich, 48075 356-8400 $8.00 Per Year; This Issue 25cSeptember 15, 1972
Vol. LXII. No. 1.
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—Day of Atonement Engraving, Amsterdam 1773
Terrorists Were Ready to Die and Take Innocent With Them
Could the Munich massacre have
been avoided? In the aftermath of the
Olympic Games tragedy, answers to
that crucial question are being sought.
Both Germany and Israel are con-
ducting thorough investigations into
the events of last week, and what may
emerge could be embarrassing to
at least one government.
However, a team of investigative
reporters from the influential West
German news magazine Der Spiegel
suggests that the eight Arab terrorists
who took the lives of 11 Israeli ath-
letes and a German policeman were
determined to complete their mission,
even at the cost of their own lives.
Said the report:
The Germans faced eight men
fully willing to die. Their leader had
told Interior Minister Hans Dietrich
Genscher at the Olympic Village:
'Today I will die for Palestine.'
"When Genscher countered that
the hostages were innocent people, he
replied: 'I am a soldier. We are at
war. You should know that I do not
shun death.'
"'That was the problem,' Gensch-
er said later."
But there is blame also for the
Germans:
It soon becare clear that the
German counter-acts nn had been badly
planned. Instead of concentrating a
maximum number of sharpshooters.
only five were used in the crucial
phase. Reinforcements arrived when
it was all over.
"Moreover, the five had not been
equipped with infrared telescope
sights which would have improved
their vision in the dark. No extra
floodlights were available when the
three in use went out.
"Finally, the helicopters were al-
lowed to land some 40 yards from
the control tower wh,ere all the au-
thorities were concentrated, while
only some 400 yards away stood a
fully fueled Finnair jet and fuel
trucks containing more than 100,000
gallons of kerosene.
"All this came under the view of
a certain stunned, disgusted observer
in the control tower. He was one of
the highest ranking members of the
Israeli intelligence service, who had
slipped quietly into the country to
confer with the Germans.
"We Itbve consented to withhold
his name, but he is known to have
played a significant role in the libera-
tion of the hijacked Sabena airliner
at Lod Airport outside Tel Aviv on
May 9.
"His report to Israel on the Munich
massacre included five harsh words
describing German efficiency:
"'They are utter amateurs here.':
The Spiegel reporters learned that
as early as February, Bavarian and
federal police had begun drawing up
a strategy plan for dealing with inci-
dents at the Olympic Village. The
contingency plan was scrapped.
as
was another plan drawn up by Munich
Police Chief Manfred Schreiber_
Heading a special study group.
Munich police psychologist Georg
Sieber had drawn up a list of possible
incidents and how they could be dealt
with. The report envisioned:
"At 5 a.m., a guerrilla commando
unit climbs over the Olympic Village
wall. The invaders occupy the bunga-
low where the Israeli team is lodged.
There are reports of gunshots and
smoke ..." He went on to stIggest the
possibility • of guerrilla and under-
ground organizations obtaining - ran;
sum money and turning the Games
into a political demonstration
Schreiber also anticipated "clashes
between Egyptian commandos and
Israeli athletes" and "such things as
sharpshooters and throwers of plastic
bombs."
Because German authorities
ttttt ...tied oil i•age. I, •