Adequate compensation has been the subject of struggle for decades: 50 years ago, Palestinian terrorists murdered Jewish athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich. Now the bereaved are to receive a total of 28 million euros.
After decades of disputes about compensation for the families left behind in the 1972 Olympic attack, the German government has reached an agreement with them. This was announced by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit in Berlin. In addition to the processing of the events by a German-Israeli historians’ commission, the overall concept also included further “recognition services” by the federal government, the state of Bavaria and the city of Munich.
According to government circles, a compensation sum of 28 million euros had recently been discussed. The federal government should contribute 22.5 million euros, the state of Bavaria 5 million euros and the city of Munich 500,000 euros.
Next Monday – the 50th anniversary of the assassination – the murdered people are to be commemorated in Munich. But victims’ families have called for a boycott of the event. They consider the handling of the assassination to be just as inadequate as the compensation paid so far. Instead, they want to take part in an official commemoration in Israel on September 21 – the 50th anniversary of the assassination according to the Hebrew calendar.
On September 5, 1972, Palestinian terrorists attacked the Israeli team at the Olympic Games in Munich. Eleven members of the team and one policeman were killed. The safety precautions were inadequate, and an attempt to free the German forces ended catastrophically.
Adequate compensation for the families of the victims of the attack has been a struggle for decades. They also demand an apology. In 1972 and 2002, Germany paid around 4.6 million euros as a humanitarian gesture for those affected. In addition, around half a million euros came from the National Olympic Committee and donations from the German Red Cross.
In 1994, victims’ families demanded 40 million marks – around 20.45 million euros – in damages and justified this with massive mistakes during the police operation. The lawsuit failed due to the statute of limitations.
