Video: 'Mega Disasters - Munich Olympic Massacre'

(Wednesday, September 6, 1972, 12:04 a.m. Central European Time; during the Munich massacre, part of the 1972 Summer Olympics) — Nine Israeli athletes taken hostage at the Munich Olympic Games by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September were murdered early this morning by their kidnappers during a bungled attempt by West Germany police to rescue kidnapped members of the Israeli Olympic team at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base.

In an extended firefight that began at 10:30 p.m.  (Sept. 5, 1972) and lasted until 12:04 a.m. (Sept. 6, 1972), all nine Israeli hostages were killed, as were five terrorists and one West German policeman (killed in the crossfire).

Three terrorists were wounded and captured alive.

The nine Israeli athletes who were killed included referee Yossef Gutfreund, American-born weightlifter David Berger, weightlifter Ze’ev Friedman, wrestler Eliezer Halfin, track coach Amitzur Shapira, shooting coach Kehat Shorr, wrestler Mark Slavin, fencing coach Andre Spitzer, and weightlifting judge Yakov Springer.

The hostage crisis began early on the morning of Sept. 5,  1972, when eight terrorists stormed the Israeli quarters in the Olympic Village in Munich, killing two team members and taking nine others hostage.

Shortly after the hostages were taken, the terrorists demanded the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the West German-held founders of the Red Army Faction, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof.

In the aftermath of this morning’s failed rescue attempt, the Olympic games resumed later today (Sept. 6, 1972) after a brief interruption.

The West German government was criticized for the poor execution of its rescue attempt and overall handling of the incident.

The three surviving perpetrators were released in October 1972, in a hostage exchange following the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615.

The Israeli government launched Operation Wrath of God, which authorized Mossad to track down and kill those involved in the Munich massacre.

Video: 'Munich Massacre Part 2'