Munich massacre at 50: How a hostage crisis marred the 1972 Olympics
On the night of 4 September 1972, the Israeli Olympic delegation returned to their apartment at Connollystrasse 31 in the north of Munich.
Hours later, a group of eight Palestinian militants, dressed in tracksuits and carrying weapons in bags, approached the fences of the Olympic village.
Alongside unsuspecting athletes, they climbed the fence and made their way to the two apartments housing the Israelis.
The group was later identified as the "Black September" faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
The militants were initially confronted by two members of the Israeli delegation, but overpowered them and forced an injured wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg to find more hostages.
Weinburg led the masked attackers to the apartment housing Israeli wrestlers, weightlifters, and other coaches. After fighting the militants, Weinberg and weightlifter Yossef Romano were shot and killed.
The nine remaining hostages were beaten and bound in one room; wrestling referee Yossef Gutfreund, shooting coach Kehat Shorr, track and field coach Amitzur Shapira, fencing coach Andre Spitzer, weightlifting judge Yakov Springer, wrestlers Eliezer Halfin and Mark Slavin, and weightlifters David Berger and Ze'ev Friedman.
Eight other Israelis in the apartment complex hid or escaped during the initial assault and eventually fled. Athletes from Uruguay and Hong Kong -- also housed in the building, were released.
The attackers wanted to release more than 230 Palestinian prisoners who were held by Israel, as well as two left-wing extremists in West German jails.
Israel refused to negotiate. Germany offered the militants "unlimited" money or replacement hostages but both proposals were rejected.
Nearly 3,000 police officers were stationed in and
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