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.
