Germany: Was a 1972 Olympic Terrorist Living Free in Berlin?

On September 5, Munich observed the 50th anniversary of the infamous Black September Palestinian terror attack on the Israel Olympic team at the 1972 Olympics. When it was over, 11 Israelis and one German policeman were dead. Five of the eight terrorists were killed. The three surviving terrorists were imprisoned, but the hijacking of a Lufthansa jet resulted in their release. Altogether a shameful chapter in the history of a country still trying to recover from its Nazi legacy.

Even the planned commemoration this month ran into snags when Israeli survivors announced they would not attend the event in view of Germany’s paltry offer of compensation. A financial agreement has just been reached.

Now unsubstantiated reports have surfaced that one of the surviving Palestinian killers was living free and undisturbed for 13 years in Berlin, apparently prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The below article from Kronen Zeitung (Austria) is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.krone.at/2809841

13 years long

Olympic terrorist probably lived undisturbed in Berlin

Caption: Olympic 1972: An Arab terrorist on the balcony of the Israeli team quarters-Photo: dpa

One of the three surviving 1972 Olympic attackers reportedly stayed undisturbed in Berlin for 13 years. The Bavarian police were reportedly informed, however, it is not clear how trustworthy the informant at the time was.

This is reported by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Southern Germany Newspaper/Munich) on Saturday. The Palestinian terrorist reportedly commuted between West and East Berlin almost daily. This was also reported by a man in the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) to the police in Bavaria. However, the reliability has not been clarified, according to the file material. This is stored, meanwhile, in the Munich City Archives and is of limited accessibility. Whether the information was followed up on is, to date, not clear.

“The question arises whether the police were generally active or held back in order not to risk any attacks by militant Palestinians in the Federal Republic (Germany),” the Suedeutsche Zeitung quoted the Munich historian Dominik Aufleger. He reportedly has had access to the file material. The theory of individual survivors goes one step further: According to them, the hijacking of the Lufthansa plane “Kiel” was only faked.

Was a deal made?

The report now fuels the theory advanced particularly by Israeli survivors: The Federal Government subsequently made a deal with the Palestinians to prevent further attacks in Germany. In exchange, the attackers would be released. A spokesperson for the Bavarian Interior Ministry said Saturday that a commission of historians was responsible for processing the files.

On September 5, 1972, a Palestinian terror commando team attacked the Israeli team during the Olympic games in Munich. In this (attack) 11 people were taken hostage, who were later killed in a shootout. Among the dead victims were also a policeman and five of the eight terrorists. Three of the attackers survived and were imprisoned, but shortly thereafter, were freed with the help of a plane hijacking.

Decades of negotiations

Police and authorities admitted to serious mistakes and omissions. Just a few days ago, the survivors of the Israeli victims agreed with the German Federal Government on a compensation payment in the amount of  28 million euros.