closeicon
World

Olympics: commemoration of Munich

The families of the 11 killed get their wish after almost half a century

articlemain

TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 23: Flag bearers Hanna Minenko and Yakov Toumarkin of Team Israel during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on July 23, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

The Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo has included for the first time an official commemoration of the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich games.

Forty-nine years on, the Israeli delegation that was killed at the Munich Olympics was commemorated with a minute’s silence at the ceremony in Japan.

 The move was welcomed by relatives of the victims, some of whom were in the stadium, and Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

“I welcome this important and historic moment. May their memory be blessed,” Mr Bennett wrote on Twitter.

The families of the 11 killed had long asked the International Olympic Committee to hold a minute’s silence at a Games opening ceremony but had been turned down for almost half a century.

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive