Summer, 40 years ago, I was in high school. The Olympics had never been important to me, as I was not a sports fan. However, that year, 1972, was different. A young Jewish swimmer was winning gold medals … one after the other. And every American was glued to the television to see if he could really win seven gold medals. And he did. Mark Spitz became both an America icon and a Jewish hero!
But then suddenly the tone of the Olympics in Munich changed. In this city, in Germany, where so much harm had been formulated against the Jewish population, another horrific event would unfold.
I will never forget the first time I saw the photos of the men in masks and ski hats on the balcony of the Israelis’ rooms. Everyone was in shock. What was going to be a wonderful memory turned into despair. And when the end came, and 11 Israeli athletes and their coaches were killed … murdered … in Germany, we were shocked.
How could this have happened?
I remember that Mark Spitz was spirited out of Germany before the closing ceremonies … even in his finest hour, he could not continue to celebrate because there were fears he would be targeted as well.
“I wasn’t afraid but it was made clear I had to leave,” Spitz said, in a (London) Daily Mail article. Spitz flew to London. That same evening Spitz was with his two sisters watching a memorial service in honor of those massacred.
As he absorbed the horror, Spitz realized that his name would be forever bound with the bloodstained Munich Olympics. “Munich has never left me, not totally,” said Spitz. “I’m associated and attached to those Olympics for what I achieved but also because of my religion. I find I have a sense of responsibility and I address it with respect.”
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2058075/Mark-Spitz-iconic-picture-Munich-Olympics-taken-London.html#ixzz25RuwSznu)
Does it still matter today?
Yes, it does!
There are other athletes who come to represent Israel. There are Jews from all over the world who compete in the Olympics. And there are still acts of racism and anti-Semitism.
I wish it was not so.
Because this year at the Olympics, I along with the rest of the world was watching another young American Jewish athlete get gold. As Ally Raisman performed her floor routine to “Hava Nagilah,” I think every Jew and American felt proud. She chose this Jewish melody to honor the memory of those murdered in Munich.
Like Ally, the world should stand up and remember what happened at the Munich Olympics. And the world should stand up to terrorists and stand behind innocents who are murdered for no reason, other than their religion — anywhere, anywhere.
Ellen Portnoy, a contributing writer to The Chronicle and a member of Kehilath Israel Synagogue, originally presented these thoughts at the Community Vigil for the Munich 11, marking the 40th anniversary of the murder of the 11 Israeli athletes on Sept. 4 at K.I.
