Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a matched gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
Fast Forward

Neo-Nazis Helped Carry Out Munich Massacre

German neo-Nazis helped the Palestinian Black September group kill 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, according to German documents.

The connection between neo-Nazi activist Willi Pohl and Palestinian terrorist Abu Daoud was published Sunday in the German weekly Der Spiegel. The report was based on a 2,000-page file compiled by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Pohl helped Abu Daoud procure fake identification, including passports and other documents, according to Der Spiegel, and also helped Black September obtain weapons.

Dortmund police reportedly were aware of the connection between Daoud and Pohl seven weeks before the attack but did not intervene.

Eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were killed at the 1972 Games in Germany by Black September.

The International Olympic Committee has officially rejected a request by the slain Israelis’ families to hold a moment of silence for the Munich 11 at the London Olympics next month on the 40th anniversary of the assassinations.

Israel has regularly requested a moment of silence at the Olympics; the IOC has consistently turned down the proposal. The Israel National Olympic Committee will hold its own memorial ceremony during the Games, as it has at every Olympics since ‘72.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.