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Terror at the Games: The 1972 Munich Hostage Crisis
Recently, I watched the Oscar-nominated film September 5, which drew my attention to the brutal hostage crisis that unfolded at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, an event I had previously known little about. The movie’s dramatic portrayal of the ABC News coverage of the hostage crisis and how it progressed throughout the 24-hour period compelled me to learn more about what happened on this dark day in history. The 1972 summer was the first return of this event to Germany since the 1936 Olympic Games, which had been hosted in Berlin by Adolf Hitler. In an effort to wash over the memory of Hitler’s Olympic Games, the organizing committee of…
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On this day – November 9th, 1938
On this day, November 9th, 1938, Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, began. This violent event, orchestrated by the Nazi party, targeted Jewish businesses and synagogues for a period of about 48 hours. The result was the complete destruction of many of these businesses and synagogues, and even 91 deaths.
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On this day – October 3rd, 1990
On October 3rd, 1990 the German Democratic Republic (East) united with the Federal Republic of Germany (West), and for the first time since 1945 one German state existed.
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On this day – March 23rd, 1933
On March 23rd, 1933, the Enabling Act was passed by the German parliament. This act enabled Adolf Hitler to pass laws without the involvement of Reichstag, the German Parliament. This law allowed Hitler to assume complete dictatorial control over Germany and allowed the National Socialist party to start taking steps to their revolution.
