Victim’s families of Munich Olympics massacre get compensated

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Karly Wampler, Writer

50 years ago, 8 Palestinian militants entered the Olympic Village at 4:30 a.m on September 5 in Munich, Germany. They shot and killed one coach and one athlete. Later, the militants flew to the Fürstenfeldbruck airport, and killed three athletes and one judge by grenade. One athlete, three coaches, and one referee were also shot and killed at the airport. This massacre ended on September 6 at 1:30 a.m.

In 2012, an article in a German magazine called Der Spiegel was released, and claimed that the German government was hiding documents about this attack. The government was supposedly hiding 3,808 files which were filled with more than 10,000 documents. It claimed that the government also knew that the Palestinians were planning the attack. After this story was heard, families of the victims were outraged. They could not believe what they were reading. Families started demanding the German government to compensate them for their loss.

As the 50th anniversary of the massacre was nearing, families of the victims were planning to boycott the memorial services for their loved ones. The families were going to boycott in order to send a message to the German government that they deserved to be paid. On August 31, just a week before the 5oth anniversary, Germany made an agreement with the families to compensate them for their loss. Each family will be given about $5.4 million. The families were hesitant on making the decision, but after pressure from the president of Israel, the families accepted the reimbursement.

The families have mixed feelings about the agreement. They are happy that they got the money they deserved, but most feel it took too long to reach an agreement.

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Massacre

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/09/05/munich-olympics-terrorism-1972/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/world/europe/munic-olympics-compensation-israel-germany.html