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The iconic picture of a Black September terrorist standing on the balcony of an Olympic Village apartment after the Israeli athletes were taken hostage. (AP)
Last update - 11:56 30/06/2008
German prof.: Israeli athletes willfully sacrificed themselves in Munich massacre
By Assaf Uni, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Munich, Black September 

Berlin - A German academic has claimed that there is a possibility that the 11 Israeli athletes who were massacred by Palestinian militants during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich knew of the attack in advance but willfully sacrificed themselves, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

At an academic conference last week, Prof. Arnd Kruger of the Institute for Sport Studies at the University of Gottingen compared the 1929 massacre of Hebron Jews with the athletes' refusal to leave the Olympic Village despite alleged prior knowledge of the attack.

During the 1972 Summer Olympics an offshoot of the Palestinian Fatah movement called Black September took over the apartment of the Israeli team, taking them hostage. After nerve wrecking negotiations, the 11 athletes, as well as a German police officer and five of the eight perpetrators, were killed in a botched rescue attempt.
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Der Spiegel's Web site quoted Kruger as saying that "the athletes sacrificed themselves in Israel's service."

Kruger told Haaretz he did not remember making such statement. He said he only sought to address unanswered questions about the massacre.

He said he was a journalist in Munich in 1972 and that he remembered Israelis telling him they think security at the Olympic Village was not tight enough.

The possibility that the Israeli team chose not to leave despite being well aware of the risk must be voiced, he said.

Kruger maintained that the fact that some of them did not run away when the terrorists came in was because of the self-sacrifice ideal of the Israeli ethos.

He said he wonders how it is possible that Shaul Ladany, who was a racewalker, managed to escape and others didn't, bearing in mind he was neither a sprinter nor a long jumper, and was visually impaired.

Kruger said he had sought to bolster his claims with sociological explanations. He said Israelis have a "different perception of the body," and that the abortion rate in Israel is relatively high.

Israeli officials in Germany were infuriated by Kruger's remarks. Ilan Mor of the Israeli embassy in Berlin told Der Spiegel that he sees it as a disturbing attempt to de-humanize Israel, and called on the university management to take disciplinary action against Kruger, who is a former dean of the social science department.

Mor said Kruger's remarks are a symptom of the "rampant anti-Semitism in Germany, often veiled under criticism of Israel."

The German Sports Sciences Association dubbed Kruger's remarks "unfortunate," and said the disciplinary board will convene next week to discuss the case.

Related articles:
  • Sports broadcaster who covered 1972 Munich massacre, Jim McKay, dies at 86
  • Germany pins hopes on Munich to hold Winter Games 2018, first since Nazi era

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      1.   The concept is not new 21:30  |  Arie 28/06/08
      2.   Huhhhhhhhhh? 22:04  |  6 Million Jews 28/06/08
      3.   sacrifice at munich olympics 22:31  |  Rachel Simson 28/06/08
      4.   Anti-semite 22:34  |  Mary 28/06/08
      5.   Candidate for deep psychoanalysis... 23:05  |  Esther 28/06/08
      6.   risk != yearning to die 23:11  |  max 28/06/08
      7.   Munich Massacre 23:21  |  m 28/06/08
      8.   jewish self sacrificed 23:30  |  mother from north 28/06/08
      9.   They all (anti-Semites, that is) come out of their holes 23:35  |  AA 28/06/08
      10.   German revisionism 23:59  |  ulf 28/06/08
      11.   To Arie from BaGolan 00:06  |  Lebanese in Canada 29/06/08
      12.   He is defending Israel and u see him insulting???!!!@$#@$ 00:46  |  Sharif Hafez 29/06/08
      13.   And what was gained by this so-called sacrifice? 00:54  |  McQueen 29/06/08
      14.   German remain germans 00:58  |  rondi 29/06/08
      15.   Enoughhhhh 01:36  |  An Israeli 29/06/08
      16.   And what to expect from Jews? 01:40  |  Harry 29/06/08
      17.   #10 02:18  |  Sami 29/06/08
      18.   Mary: You Really Are Certifiable 02:20  |  Tex 29/06/08
      19.   Sharif: Murdered People Don`t Ask For It 02:24  |  Tex 29/06/08
      20.   Another Iranian statement 03:20  |  Paul 29/06/08
      21.   Heak! 03:22  |  Paul 29/06/08
      22.   Germany will turn into Muslim land 03:25  |  Fred 29/06/08
      23.   Munich Massacre: Sharif is clueless? 03:27  |  Avner 29/06/08
      24.   What do we have? 03:36  |  Axel 29/06/08
      25.   Much Learning Has Made This Man Foolish! 04:19  |  Lavi 29/06/08
      26.   Absurd and offensive! 05:27  |  sg 29/06/08
      27.   Freedom of speech 06:24  |  Amos 29/06/08
      28.   Sylvia Browne the "psychic" claims Jews willingly sacrificed.. 06:42  |  PK 29/06/08
      29.   Article was confusing 06:43  |  Donald 29/06/08
      30.   After Nazis were defeated all Germans could whine about was.. 06:48  |  PK 29/06/08
      31.   German obsession with Jews never ends, even after.. 06:50  |  PK 29/06/08
      32.   The guy seems to be a faschist 07:43  |  Eugene 29/06/08
      33.   KRUGER blame shifting.It was Germany`s duty to guard & defend the 07:51  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      34.   Israeli athletes willfully sacrificed themselves in Munich massac 08:19  |  Dave Bing 29/06/08
      35.   AXEL Trying to shoot the messenger.Spiegel is quoting Kruger 08:42  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      36.   mary - antisemitism - 2. try 09:27  |  scallywag 29/06/08
      37.   Why didn`t the Israeli athletes leave... 09:44  |  Maureen Ann 29/06/08
      38.   Esther # 5 09:49  |  Smart Alec 29/06/08
      39.   #19, Tex to Sharif 09:50  |  Silvienne 29/06/08
      40.   abortion in israel high? 10:10  |  Ivan 29/06/08
      41.   I`d go even further 10:20  |  Nechama 29/06/08
      42.   Everyone has a "view" of what happened. 10:31  |  Fritz 29/06/08
      43.   # Mother from the north. "I don`t know why... 10:51  |  Maureen Ann 29/06/08
      44.   MAUREEN No cop outs! Watch the documentary one day in September 10:51  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      45.   Must have written the Protocols 10:56  |  Harvey (Chaim) 29/06/08
      46.   The Mouth Is Moving 10:58  |  Yosemite 29/06/08
      47.   Germany 10:59  |  Irene 29/06/08
      48.   GERMANY PLEASE EXPLAIN 11:01  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 29/06/08
      49.   This is newsworthy? 11:04  |  Ofer Maimon 29/06/08
      50.   LEBANESE in Canada about Palestinians&their children.THEY say it 11:17  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      51.   ari 11:41  |  caroline 29/06/08
      52.   # 35 petersm 11:58  |  Axel 29/06/08
      53.   # 33 petersm 12:01  |  Axel 29/06/08
      54.   Israelis massacred because of German incompetence 12:02  |  Jonathan S 29/06/08
      55.   Hitlers electoral base: German professors 12:03  |  A thinking Jew 29/06/08
      56.   MAUREEN Some people bow to threats others do not! 12:09  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      57.   H M The Queen 12:10  |  Sherlock Holmes 29/06/08
      58.   Whose duty was it? 12:12  |  Joe 29/06/08
      59.   Dave Bing.Plenty will vote democrat.Tradition! 12:12  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      60.   HERR PROFESSOR IS GOT 12:12  |  Robert 29/06/08
      61.   #37 Moron-ann doesn`t ask WHY............ 12:25  |  Ari ben Yisrael 29/06/08
      62.   AXEL "Set Up" for the release of the terrorist.As in cooperation 12:31  |  PETER SM 29/06/08
      63.   abortion rate in israel - and in germany 12:36  |  scallywag 29/06/08
      64.   German crap 12:39  |  Tulip 29/06/08
      65.   # Axel re petersm and his "confusion". 12:49  |  Labhras 29/06/08
      66.   The tsunamis were their fault too. Stop denying it Jews! 12:57  |  x-ray 29/06/08
      67.   Mary from Boston 13:03  |  ChanahS 29/06/08
      68.   Am I surprised? German prof`s remarks. 13:09  |  David Nigel Braham 29/06/08
      69.   Sharif Hafez 12 13:09  |  ChanahS 29/06/08
      70.   Sylvienne 39