Finally, an IOC nod to slain Israeli Olympians

Israeli weightlifter Yossef Romano and 10 other members of the Israeli Olympic team were murdered by Palestine Liberation Organization terrorists during the 1972 summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.

Since then, his widow Ilana Romano and a handful of fellow widowers have fought for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to formally recognize the massacre with a moment of silence or official memorial. While the Games went on in 1972, the tragedy was shooed under the carpet. As recently as 2012, Romano and Ankie Spitzer, the widow of another Munich Massacre victim, pressed top Olympic officials over their refusal to honor the dead with a minute of silence at the opening ceremony of that year’s London Olympics — the massacre’s 40th anniversary.

In time for the Rio Olympics in the summer of 2016, a first-ever IOC-supported official memorial telling the story of the Munich Massacre will be erected in Munich, on the grounds of the Olympic stadium. The memorial, whose groundbreaking ceremony will take place this summer, is being constructed at the initiative of the Bavarian government to bring a sense of closure to this 43-year drama. 

Likewise, it was recently announced that the new president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, will erect an official site at the Rio Olympics for people to go and reflect on the loss of anyone who was hurt or killed in the Olympic Games—including the 11 Israeli victims.

“We have given the best years of our lives to the tragedy of what happened,” Romano said. “Now we are starting to see some light from all of our efforts.”

In anticipation of the memorial, the Foundation for Global Sports Development (GSD) will release a new documentary examining what is widely considered the first act of modern terrorism. The film, “Munich 1972 & Beyond,” will for the first time unravel why and how the attack happened, its aftermath, and its importance in 2015 and beyond. Produced by Dr. Steven Ungerleider, author of “Faust’s Gold,” and GSP President David Ulich, the film will offer new research and information—some of which Romano says she has never seen herself.