Twelve Months — Twelve Names: 50 Years Olympic Massacre Munich

Weightlifter
May 24, 1944 Cleveland / Ohio, USA – September 5/6, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

David Berger, the son of a physician, grew up with his two siblings in Cleveland. He started to lift weights at the age of thirteen. Berger studied psychology and business administration before gaining a doctorate in law at Columbia University in New York. He decided to focus on a career in sport. In 1970 he emigrated to Israel and successfully qualified for the Israeli weightlifting team for Munich.

In January 2022 the Amerikahaus Munich commemorates weightlifter David Berger with an installation by media artists Horst Konietzny and Saba Bussmann.

Policeman
March 5, 1940 Westerndorf – September 5, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

Anton Fliegerbauer grew up with his two siblings on his parents’ farm in Westerndorf, Lower Bavaria. He initially attended agricultural school, then enrolled in training with the Bavarian State Police. In 1966 he married Maria and two years later their son Alfred was born. During the Olympic Games, Fliegerbauer was assigned to a unit of the Bereitschaftspolizei – the riot police. He lost his life during the attempt to free the Israeli hostages.

In February 2022 the Munich Police commemorates Anton Fliegerbauer with a projection at the police headquarters at Ettstraße 2.

Weightlifter
June 10, 1944 Prokopyevsk, then Soviet Union – September 5/6, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

Ze'ev Friedman was born in the Soviet Union where his parents had settled after fleeing the Nazi regime. Intending to emigrate to Israel, the family moved to Bielawa in Poland in 1957. For a number of years, Bielawa served as an important transit point for Jews before their emigration. In 1960 they were given permission to leave Poland. Friedman was a talented all-round athletic. In Israel he successfully specialized in weightlifting and studied at the Wingate sports center. He participated in international competitions and worked as a sports teacher. The Olympic Games in Munich were to be the highlight of his career.

In March, the Bauerhofmuseum Jexhof, a farm museum in the Fürstenfeldbruck district, will dedicate an outdoor exhibition to weightlifter Ze'ev Friedman.

Wrestling referee
November 1, 1931 Chisina˘u, then Romania – September 5/6, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

Yossef Gutfreund, his parents and his sister survived the Shoah while in hiding in different places in Romania and Hungary. In 1948 the family emigrated to Israel via Austria. Gutfreund’s parents opened a guesthouse in Jerusalem where he initially helped out. After his marriage in 1956, he and his wife had two daughters. Gutfreund had been a wrestling enthusiast since his youth. He became a referee and took part at his first Olympic Games in 1964 in Tokyo. Gutfreund also served as a wrestling referee in Munich.

in April, the Deutsches Theater — where the Israeli team attended a performace of the musical Fiddler on the roof on the evening before the massacre — will commemorate Yossef Gutfreund with a video installation.

Wrestler
June 18, 1948 Riga, then Soviet Union – September 5/6, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

Eliezer Halfin and his sister, children of survivors of the Shoah, grew up in Riga in the Soviet Union where Halfin became a successful freestyle wrestler. For years the family made every effort to follow their relatives to Israel. This was not possible until 1969 due to restrictive emigration regulations. In Israel he successfully completed the obligatory Hebrew course for immigrants at a kibbutz near the national Wingate sports center. Halfin was able to continue his training there while learning the language. His greatest ambition was to participate in the Olympic Games.

Im May the district of Fürstenfeldbruck commemorates Eliezer Halfin in the exhibition September 5, 1972—The End of the Cheerful Games in Munich.

Weightlifter
April 15, 1940 Benghazi, then Italian Libya – September 5, 1972 Munich

Yossef Romano was born in Libya, an Italian colony at that time. In 1946, his parents and their twelve children fled antisemitic riots to what was then Palestine. The family settled in Herzliya, where Romano went to school and completed an apprenticeship. Romano’s talent for weightlifting was discovered by chance when the twenty-year old was lifting a friend up in the air on a beach. In the 1960s Romano dominated the Israeli middleweight championships. However, before he was able to prove his capabilities at the competitions in Munich as well, he sustained a torn tendon.

To commemorate Yossef Romano the Eichenau Sports Club and the Fürstenfeldbruck Historical Society organize the Yossef Romano Memorial Tournament on June 19, in which women, men and children from Israel and Germany compete in weightlifting.

Track and field coach
July 9, 1932 Tel Aviv, then Palestine – September 5/6, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

Amitzur Shapira was born in 1932 in Tel Aviv, shortly after his parents had arrived in what was then Palestine during one of the largest waves of immigrants from the Soviet Union. He was a successful track and field athlete at an early age. He studied psychology, educational science, and literature in Tel Aviv, followed by sport at the Wingate sports center. After he retired from competitions, he worked as a sports teacher and coached top athletes. He served as the coach of the national track and field team, which he accompanied to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. At the Munich games he coached the Israeli medal hope Esther Shahamorov.

In July the Jüdische Museum München commemorates with Amitzur Shapira a facade installation.

Shooting coach
February 21, 1919 Podu Iloaiei, Romania – September 5/6, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

Kehat Schor survived the Shoah in hiding in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. In 1946 he married and three years later his daughter was born. For many years the family had tried in vain to emigrate to Israel. In 1963 the Romanian regime finally gave its permission. Schor, a well-known sports marksman, immediately found a job as a coach in Israel. He soon took charge of the national team, which he accompanied to the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico. In Munich, he was the coach of the two marksmen who had qualified for the games.

In August the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism commemorates Kehat Schor in an installation on Max-Mannheimer-Platz and Königsplatz.

Wrestler
January 31, 1954 Minsk, then Soviet Union – September 5/6, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

Mark Slavin was born in Minsk in the Soviet Union. He had a privileged upbringing thanks to his grandfather’s distinguished service in the Red Army during World War II. He trained as a wrestler at an elite sports college. In 1971 he became Soviet junior champion. Despite his athletic successes, Slavin suffered increasingly from the prevailing antisemitism. He persuaded his family to emigrate with him to Israel. They were given permission to leave three months before the Olympic Games in 1972. He immediately gained citizenship so that he was able to travel with the Israel team to Munich.

In September, the Museum Fürstenfeldbruck in cooperation with the City of Fürstenfeldbruck commemorates Mark Slavin with a light installation.

Fencing coach
July 4, 1945 Timisoara, Romania – September 5/6, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

Andrei Spitzer, whose parents had survived the Shoah, was born in Romania. When he was eleven years old his father died. Eight years later, in 1964, he emigrated with his mother to Israel. Spitzer had been a keen fencer since his early youth. In Israel he hitchhiked around the country to arouse the interest of youths for his sport. In 1968, the Israeli fencing association sent him to a sports academy in the Netherlands where he met his future wife, Ankie. Their daughter was born on June 27, 1972. Two months later Spitzer went off to the Olympic Games in Munich where he was Yehuda Weinstain and Dan Alon’s coach.

As part of the exhibition project Students remember! five school classes and youth groups asked themselves the question: How do we want to commemorate the 1972 Munich Massacre at the Summer Olympics? Over more than half a year they worked on their projects on Andrei Spitzer and each group came up with its very own form of remembrance: a sports festival and a a fencing performance, a social media project, a memorial tree and an art installation.

Find out more about the exhibition project
Find out more about Andrei Spitzer

Weightlifting referee
June 10, 1921 Kalisz, Poland – September 5/6, 1972 Fürstenfeldbruck

Yakov Springer was the sole member of his family to survive the Shoah. His parents and siblings were deported to Łódz Ghetto and murdered. He managed to flee to the Soviet Union. After the war he returned to Poland, married and had two children. He studied sports in Warsaw and later worked in the sports ministry’s department of heavy athletics. Due to the antisemitic climate in Poland, the young family emigrated to Israel in 1957 where Springer established weightlifting as an athletic discipline. In Munich, the experienced weightlifting referee was taking part in his third Olympic Games.

Wrestling coach
September 19, 1939 Haifa, then Palestine – September 5, 1972 Munich

Moshe (Muni) Weinberg was born in Haifa, his family having successfully fled from the Nazi regime in Vienna in 1938. After his parents separated, Weinberg was raised by his grandparents. His neighbor Erwin Becker, a former wrestler from Germany, introduced him to the discipline and became his coach. In the 1950s, Weinberg won the Israeli championship several times. After he retired from competitions, he began coaching at the Wingate sports center. In Munich, Weinberg was coach to the wrestlers Eliezer Halfin and Mark Slavin.