Rabbis from across Europe have gathered at the site of the Munich Olympics massacre to say kaddish for the Israeli athletes who were murdered 50 years ago.

The 12 rabbis prayed last week at a memorial built in 2017, after a long campaign by the 11 victims’ families.

Two were killed immediately by members of Palestinian terror group Black September, when they launched their attack in the Olympic village in 1972. Nine more taken hostage all died during a botched rescue attempt organised by German authorities. 

Cut into the landscape in a park built on the former site of the Olympic village, the memorial is designed to evoke an open wound.

The rabbis had gathered in Munich at the 32nd general convention of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), which conducted ceremonies to honour the victims of Dachau as well as the Munich massacre.

Rabbi Michael Jedwabny, from Aachen, Germany, told the JC about the significance of the memorial: “It is exactly in Germany, where the Holocaust happened, where other enemies, where Arab terrorists all killed Jews – the junction of these two events combined to kill Jews.

“Therefore it is important to say here that you will not succeed, that we will be strong.”

Also at the convention was Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Shudrich, who spoke of his concern for Ukraine’s Jewish community

He told the JC: “I don’t know if there’s a future for Jews in Ukraine but I know there is a future for the Jews of Ukraine.”

The US-born rabbi was appointed in March by the CER to coordinate support for Ukrainian refugees.  

He said he needed more donations but added he was “so proud” of his community who were providing aid and kosher food.