Germany appoints commission to re-appraise 1972 Munich Olympics attack

BERLIN, April 21 (Reuters) – Germany has appointed an eight-person commission to re-appraise the attack on Israeli athletes and team members at the 1972 Munich Olympics to answer unresolved questions, said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in a statement on Friday.

“For too many years, there was a lack of understanding or reappraisal of the events, transparency about them or acceptance of responsibility for them,” she said.

The project is part of a larger government approach to seek reconciliation with the families affected, including a compensation offer of 28 million euros ($30.67 million).

Palestinians from the Black September militant group took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage on Sept. 5, 1972.

Eleven Israelis, a German policeman and five of the Palestinian gunmen died after a stand-off at the Olympic village and the nearby Fuerstenfeldbruck airfield.

The Games continued in 1972 after the attacks and the IOC took almost half a century to comply with families’ requests for an official act of remembrance at an Olympic event.

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Photo: A file photo dated 5 September 1972 showing a Black September terrorist during the siege of the Munich Olympics terrorist attack in which 11 Israeli athletes were killed. EPA/DPA