Spring Break
The Daily OrangeOnce-quiet Munich survivor speaks of 1972 Olympic horrors
By Brian Tahmosh
Posted: 4/29/07, 10:28 PM EST Section: Feature
"That's when we knew we were in for some problems," Alon said.
Alon's first thought was to fight back. He was a fencing athlete but he was staying with others who were in the shooting competition. They could try to kill the terrorists before they themselves were killed.
"After a few minutes or more calculating the situation, we decided to escape because we didn't know how many terrorists there were," he said. "It was too risky for us, and it was too risky for the hostages."
Alon and the other athletes made a run for it. He was the second to go. The first athlete ran in a zig-zag motion to avoid the gunshots from the terrorists in the building, but Alon did not have to dodge bullets. When he looked back, the terrorist was staring at him, but he did not fire.
The surviving athletes were taken to a safe house by the German police. There, they waited as the hostages were loaded onto helicopters and taken to the airport. They waited as the word came across that the rescue attempt had been a success and everyone was alive.
"We were very happy and we celebrated," Alon said. "We even opened a bottle of champagne."
But the celebration ended when the truth came out that the hostages had all perished.
After the Olympics, Alon said he was filled with anger. Anger at the terrorists. Anger at the German police. Anger at the Israeli Olympic Committee for not providing more security.
Even with all this anger, he said he did not agree with the way the Israeli government tried to retaliate by assassinating people involved in planning the attack, as it was portrayed in the Hollywood film.
"You killed those responsible, but you did not solve the problem," he said. "You can't solve this problem through bloodshed. Bloodshed brings more bloodshed."
Alon said this is the same problem the Israeli government deals with today in addressing terrorism in the state. He said he would prefer other forms of punishments instead of violent retaliation.
"If you bomb them and shoot at them, that's not going to bring a solution," he said. "I believe economic, political and social punishments are much stronger than bombing."
Mike Mintz, a high school junior from Providence who was visiting Barnhart, said he agreed with Alon's proposal for cutting back on violence.
"I thought that was pretty good," Mintz said. "Because it's true. It has a lot of sense to it."
Alon's first thought was to fight back. He was a fencing athlete but he was staying with others who were in the shooting competition. They could try to kill the terrorists before they themselves were killed.
"After a few minutes or more calculating the situation, we decided to escape because we didn't know how many terrorists there were," he said. "It was too risky for us, and it was too risky for the hostages."
Alon and the other athletes made a run for it. He was the second to go. The first athlete ran in a zig-zag motion to avoid the gunshots from the terrorists in the building, but Alon did not have to dodge bullets. When he looked back, the terrorist was staring at him, but he did not fire.
The surviving athletes were taken to a safe house by the German police. There, they waited as the hostages were loaded onto helicopters and taken to the airport. They waited as the word came across that the rescue attempt had been a success and everyone was alive.
"We were very happy and we celebrated," Alon said. "We even opened a bottle of champagne."
But the celebration ended when the truth came out that the hostages had all perished.
After the Olympics, Alon said he was filled with anger. Anger at the terrorists. Anger at the German police. Anger at the Israeli Olympic Committee for not providing more security.
Even with all this anger, he said he did not agree with the way the Israeli government tried to retaliate by assassinating people involved in planning the attack, as it was portrayed in the Hollywood film.
"You killed those responsible, but you did not solve the problem," he said. "You can't solve this problem through bloodshed. Bloodshed brings more bloodshed."
Alon said this is the same problem the Israeli government deals with today in addressing terrorism in the state. He said he would prefer other forms of punishments instead of violent retaliation.
"If you bomb them and shoot at them, that's not going to bring a solution," he said. "I believe economic, political and social punishments are much stronger than bombing."
Mike Mintz, a high school junior from Providence who was visiting Barnhart, said he agreed with Alon's proposal for cutting back on violence.
"I thought that was pretty good," Mintz said. "Because it's true. It has a lot of sense to it."
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