One day in September : the full story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre and the Israeli revenge operation "Wrath of God" / Simon Reeve.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reeve, Simon.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Olympic Games--(20th : 1972 : Munich, Germany).

Olympic Games.

Athletes--Israel.

Athletes.

Terrorism--Germany--Munich.

Terrorism.

Revenge.

Germany--Munich.

Israel.

Physical Description:

xiv, 304 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of portraits : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Arcade, [2000]

Summary:

At 4:30 A.M. on the morning of September 5, 1972, a small band of Palestinian terrorists scaled the perimeter wall of the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany. Within minutes they had invaded the apartments of the Israelis quartered at 31 Connollystrasse and taken hostage eleven athletes and coaches. Their goal: to thrust the foundering PLO cause into the world spotlight and gain the release of several hundred Arabs held prisoner by the Israelis.

Over the next twenty hours as the drama unfolded, over 900 million viewers followed the chilling event on television. Deadline after deadline passed as the German authorities negotiated with the terrorists, desperately trying to buy time while conflicting forces argued about a rescue plan. Finally, late in the evening, two German helicopters bore the Arabs and their surviving hostages to Munich's little-used Furstenfeldbruck airfield, where a Lufthansa 727 was waiting to take them to a neutral country. But there events went tragically awry. Within minutes fifteen people were dead: all the Israeli athletes, five of the terrorists, and one German policeman. Why did the rescue mission fail so miserably? Who was responsible, and why? And why were the extensive reports compiled by the German authorities concealed from the public for over two decades?

Based on years of exhaustive research, thousands of official documents recently released as a result of the legal demands made by the families of the murdered athletes, and hundreds of interviews with participants and survivors, One Day in September is the definitive account of one of the most devastating and politically explosive events of the late twentieth century, one that launched a new era of international terrorism and set the tone for nearly thirty years of renewed conflict in the Middle East.

The book also recounts for the first time the full details of the Israeli revenge mission, "Operation Wrath of God," which called for reprisals against all those directly or indirectly involved in the Munich massacre -- including one operation involving current Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, who led a three-soldier unit, disguised as women, into Beirut to assassinate three senior Palestinian officials.

One Day in September is published to coincide with the release of the ninety-minute film of the same title, which won an Academy Award for best documentary, produced by three-time Oscar winner Arthur Cohn.

Contents:

1 The Takeover 1

2 Black September 20

3 Negotiations 48

4 Operation Sunshine 70

5 The Deception 93

6 Furstenfeldbruck 105

7 Champagne Celebrations 125

8 The Mourning Begins 142

9 Operation Wrath of God 160

10 Operation Spring of Youth 175

11 The Red Prince 196

12 The Cover-up 218

13 The Survivors 239.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1559705477

OCLC:

44106518