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Israeli Olympians return to Munich 40 years after massacre

February 27, 2012 15:28

By

Jennifer Lipman,

Jennifer Lipman

1 min read

Seven Israeli Olympians who lost their teammates in the Munich Games massacre nearly 40 years ago returned to the city this week.

In September 1972, 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team died after an attack on their Olympic Village apartments by gunmen from the terrorist group Black September. Some died immediately, others during an unsuccessful rescue attempt which also left a German policeman dead.

The anniversary of the massacre, considered one of the darkest moments in Israeli history, will be marked in London this summer. This week, seven athletes who were on the 1972 team, now in their 60s, were taken back to Munich for a Biography Channel documentary that is being made about what happened.

Swimmer Avraham Melamed said that while it was fantastic to return, "the families of the victims share a completely different reality".