World

Munich Massacre

Israelis host Beijing ceremony to remember victims

Alison Klayman
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Beijing

H

undreds of Israeli, Chinese
and Olympic officials gathered
Monday at the Hilton Beijing to
commemorate the massacre of Israeli ath-
letes at the 1972 Munich Games.
While it has become a longstanding
tradition for the Israeli delegation to visit
the memorial to the Munich victims in Tel
Aviv on the eve of their departure for the
Olympics, the tradition to hold a formal
memorial ceremony during the Games
only began at Sydney in 2000.
The memorial is arranged by the Israeli
Olympic Committee in conjunction with
the local Israeli Embassy, but has never
been incorporated as an official pro-
gram under the International Olympic
Committee, for which the Israelis have
been pushing.
The secretary-general of the Israeli
Olympic Committee, Ephraim Zinger,
opened the event by reading the names
of the 11 athletes and coaches who were
killed in the terrorist assassinations
in Munich. Rabbi Shimon Freudlich
of Chabad Beijing led the El-Maleh
Rachamim prayer memorializing the dead.
Fourteen members of the current Israeli
delegation attended, as well as coaches
and officials, all of whom had finished
their competitions and were heading back

to Israel the next day.
"Part of their preparation is to learn
and be aware of the heritage of our 11
slain athletes:' Zinger said. "All the athletes
know and meet the families, and on the
way to the Games they visit the memorial
to the Munich victims in Tel Aviv. It is a
part of their education."
Israel's minister of science, culture and
sport, Raleb Majadele, spoke on behalf of
the Israeli government but also recalled
having lost two close friends in the mas-
sacre. He said the proper way to honor
the Munich tragedy was "to continue to
train and to continue to participate in the
Olympic Games, just as we are doing here
in Beijing."
Others, however, took a more critical
tone.
Zvi Varshaviak, the president of the
Israel Olympic Committee, called upon the
International Olympic Committee to be
involved directly in commemorating the
Munich massacre. Zinger said the Israelis
raise the issue at every meeting with the
IOC, but without results.
"Probably they are concerned about the
reaction of those who will disagree with
a memorial like this," Zinger said. "There
are 205 NOCs [national Olympic commit-
tees] participating in the Olympics, and
there are more than a few dozen that will
strongly disagree with this kind of event!'
Ankie Schpitzer, whose husband, fenc-
ing referee Andrei Schpitzer, was killed
in Munich, was one of the evening's most

Rabbi Shimon Freundlich leads the El Maleh Rachamim prayer at Aug. 18 ceremony
in Beijing honoring the Israeli victims of the 1972 Munich massacre.

powerful speakers in advocating for a
wider memorial to be witnessed by all the
world's athletes.
"This is not an Israeli issue, this concerns
the whole Olympic family,' she said. "Our
sons, fathers and husbands were no acci-
dental tourists or visitors to the Games; they
were part of it. They believed in the spirit
and the dreams of the Olympics, but they all
came home in a coffin."
Schpitzer graphically recalled returning
to the Israeli delegation's quarters in the
Munich Olympic village hours after the
terrorist action ended in tragedy. She saw
blood all over the room and a scene of
devastation.

"And I kept repeating to myself, Are
these the Olympics they dreamt about?
Was this the festival of love and brother-
hood that they wanted to be part of?'" she
thought at the time.
"The overall mood of the night was that
the IOC should recognize the 11 athletes
who were murdered in 1972 as Olympic
victims," Zinger told JTA."They were
Israelis, yes, but they were Olympians."
Schpitzer said official recognition of the
Munich massacre has been her cause since
`72, and promised that her children and
grandchildren would continue to fight for
official remembrance by the International
Olympic Committee. Li

Maccabi Athletes Memorialize Munich

The daughter of the Israel coach
murdered along with 10 other mem-
bers of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team
in Munich exhorted Maccabi athletes
in Metro Detroit to remind the world
what happened so history doesn't
repeat itself.
"The tragedy of Munich was the first
milestone of world terror," said Anouk
Spitzer at the Palace of Auburn Hills
during the Aug. 17 opening ceremonies
of the JCC Maccabi Games in Metro
Detroit.
The daughter of fencing coach
Andre Spitzer, she is one of 14 adults

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August 28 • 2008

who were babies of the
Spitzer spoke during a
Munich 11.
video presentation com-
"Our mothers have
memorating the Israeli
tried to raise us without
athletes slain in Germany
hate in our hearts — a dif-
36 years ago. She
ficult feat since nobody
thanked the JCC Maccabi
has ever taken responsi-
Games organizers for the
bility for this violent act
commemoration. "This
of terror," she said.
reminds the world that
"We were never look-
terror will never win," she
ing for revenge; only for
said. "We have to speak
justice."
up, remember, remind
She added, "It seems
and condemn such acts
Anouk Spitzer at the
that the world hasn't
so that things like this
Palace
learned much since then
will never happen again."
and maybe the fact that
The Israeli athletes
we are so quick to forget has made it
went to Germany to realize their
possible for other such acts to follow."
dreams — to participate in the festival

Staff p hoto by Ang le Baan

E F Ic o lib t :r r Sklar

of love, brotherhood and fair play and
to proudly hold the Israeli flag when
they entered the Olympic stadium.
They returned home in coffins wrapped
in that same flag.
Spitzer told the 2,700 Maccabi ath-
letes, "You were not even born when
this massacre happened, but what
better place than here to learn about
your history and your legacy as future
Jewish athletes and Jewish leaders of
tomorrow."
"In their memory," she urged, "com-
pete with pride, brotherhood and fair
play. It is not only about winning; this
experience will be with you for the rest
of your lives."

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