1972 Munich
Life is full of unintended consequences (good & bad) that can often go unnoticed. This is why I enjoy retrospective reflection, a process of humility and growth as it reminds me of how little control I have over my life and to learn from the experiences.
Similarly, as an amateur historian of 20th Century and onwards, I am always interested in studying events that are inflection points in history because it allows me to understand why things are the way they are today by connecting the dots from the past.
The 1972 Summer Olympics was unique because its unintended consequences that came about as well as being an inflection point that has altered the fabric of our society and way of life. This watershed event gave rise to several seemingly unrelated topics that are of great interest to me (1) Geopolitics, (2) Hong Kong & Terrorism, (3) Running & fitness and (4) Sniper rifle.
Background
In 1966, when Munich was chosen to host the 1972 Summer Olympics, the organizers’ intent was to create a “Happy” Olympic – Die Heiteren Spiele (The Cheerful Games) - to wipe out the memories of the Nazi-dominated 1936 Berlin Olympics and show the World that West Germany was once again an international player. To create the environment of happiness, the organizers purposely downplayed the need for security with a minimal budget keeping all personnels unarmed, inconspicuous and non-confrontational. Any security-related contingency plan was not a priority. This created a perfect storm for the unintended consequence.
On the early morning of 5 September, 1972, furnished with detailed plans of the Olympic Village, stolen keys and weapons, eight members from the militant fraction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) – Black September - disguised as athletes penetrated the living quarters of the Israeli atheles with ease. Two Israeli athletes were killed upon entry and 9 others were taken hostages. After almost 18 hours, the crisis ended in a complete diseaster resulting in the death of all hostages when the German police ambushed the terrorists at the airport with poor planning and execution.
Luttif Afif (Issa)
Geopolitics
When I was growing up in the 1960s, Geopolitic was relatively straightforward dominated by the US-Soviet competition in which the two great powers fought in Korea, Vietnam and sponsored proxy war in Cuba. The Middle East was a distant land until 5 Sept, 1972 when the Israeli-Plasetinian conflict was brought to the front page of the World news outlet in Munich, Germany.
Then the games were suspended for only24 hours following the massacure when the IOC President Avery Brundage made the infamous announcement “The Games must go on!”. This tragedy deeply impacted Israeli history and global perceptions of the Israeli-Plasetinian conflict.
It left Israel with the belief that it cannot rely on the World to protect and care for the Jews. Consequently, Israel’s prime minister Golda Meir authorized a Mossard hit team to hunt down and kill all Black September members responsible for the Munich massacure. Althought the Israel never admitted to this State sanctioned assassination (Operation Wrath of God), it was chronicled in the book “Vengeance” by George Jonas, as well as 2 movies - “Sword of Gideon” (1986) and “Munich”.
It sew the seed for how Israel dealt with the plastelian issue today.
It set the stage for the middle east crisis.
Hong Kong & Terrorism
Unbeknownst to most, Hong Kong was smack in the middle of the hostage crisis in Munich during the early morning of 5 Sept 1972 simply because the Hong Kong Olympic team was housed one floor above the Israel team in the Olympic Village.
While some Hong Kong team members managed to make their escapes by climbing out of the building, swimmer Ronnie Wong Man Chiu, Judoka Mok Cheuk Wing and fencer Matthew Chan Wan Hei came face to face with a terrorist and had to explain to one that they were Chinese from Hong Kong, then were allowed to leave.
Another 2 Hong Kong members stranded in the Hong Kong Olympic Committee’s office were the judo and swimming coaches were stranded in the Hong Kong because they were old and frail to climb out of their second-story window. When it was close to the terrorist’s deadline for the start of killing athletes, the head of the Hong Kong contingent Arnaldo de Oliveira Sales (沙利士) asked the Germans for permission to speak with the terrorist leader Luttif Afif (Issa) directly, who eventually helped Sales to search for the two coaches inside the building and granted their release. According to Sales “When I walked out with them, I heard a great cheer from the crowd. I asked the Black September guy if he needed anything. But he said he had everything. It never occurred to me that I might be in danger. My mind was focused on getting the Hong Kong athletes out. It was very sad that it ended in a tragedy.”
