German President Admits It Was ‘Shameful’ It Took 50 Years To Agree On Munich Compensation

NEW YORK (VINnews) — German head of state Frank-Walter Steinmeier acknowledged Sunday that it was “shameful” that Germany took 50 years to strike a deal to compensate bereaved relatives of Israeli victims for the bloody hostage-taking and murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympics in 1972. “That it took 50 years to achieve this reconciliation in recent days is truly shameful,” he admitted to his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, whom he received during an official visit on the occasion of the commemorations of this tragedy, scheduled for Monday.

After decades of confidential negotiations, the German government announced Wednesday an agreement on compensation, just before the ceremonies that the families of the victims had threatened to boycott due to the paltry sums being offered. The German head of state and his Israeli counterpart will be present at the commemorations scheduled for Monday in Munich.

However deal was finally agreed on Wednesday offering $28 million (NIS 94.4 million) in compensation. It also — for the first time — sees the German state acknowledging its “responsibility” in failings that led to the massacre at the Olympics.

In a speech at a state banquet for Herzog, Steinmeier acknowledged that “our responsibility as Germans includes shedding light on the many unanswered questions, the blind spots of the attack in Munich — and also the blind spots in our handling of the attack since then.”

“For far too long, we did not want to acknowledge the pain of the bereaved families. And for far too long, we did not want to acknowledge that we, too, had to shoulder some of the responsibility: it was our job to ensure the safety of the Israeli athletes,” he said, noting that some of the members of the Israeli team had been Holocaust survivors.

On September 5, 1972, eight terrorists from the Palestinian terror group Black September stormed into the Israeli team’s rooms at the Olympic village, shooting dead two athletes and taking nine Israelis hostage.

Memorial plaque for 11 Israeli athletes murdered at Munich Olympics

West German police attempted a rescue operation but the effort failed. All nine hostages were killed, along with five of the eight hostage-takers and a police officer.

The 1972 Olympics were meant to present a new and reformed Germany 27 years after the Holocaust but instead opened a deep rift with Israel.

Herzog underlined the pain faced by the bereaved relatives, saying they simply “hit a wall” whenever they tried to raise the issue with Germany or even with the International Olympic Committee.

“I think there was tragic suppression here,” he said, noting the list of failings that were “inhuman and incomprehensible” such as “the fact that the hostages were being led to slaughter and the Games went on.”

After initially suspending the sport activities,  then International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Avery Brundage had declared that “the Games must go on.”

Forty years later, the IOC was widely criticized for refusing to dedicate a moment of silence to the victims during the opening of the London Games.

The same year, Israel released 45 official documents on the killings, including specially declassified material, which lambasted the performance of the German security services. The documents included an accusation by former Israeli intelligence director Zvi Zamir who said that German police “didn’t make even a minimal effort to save human lives.”

Relatives of victims have over the years battled to obtain an official apology from Germany, access to official documents and appropriate compensation beyond an initial 4.5 million euros.

As recently as just two weeks ago, relatives of the victims said they were offered 10 million euros — including the 4.5 million euros already given, a miniscule amount compared to the pain and bereavement they have suffered.

Herzog voiced hope that the new agreement would bring “this painful episode to a place of healing”.

“I hope that from now on, we shall continue to remember, invoke, and most importantly reaffirm the lessons of this tragedy, including the importance of fighting terror, for future generations,” said the Israeli president.

In his Twitter account Herzog wrote that “the Munich massacre was a terrible disaster for Israel, the Olympic spirit and especially the victims’ families. I welcome the agreement between the German Government and the families for a historical inquiry, the taking of responsibility by Germany, and suitable compensation.”

Steinmeier said he would address some of the German failings during his speech at the ceremony on Monday. “I will speak about… some misjudgments, some misbehaviors and some errors made during the Games in Munich,” he said.