THE MUNICH ELEVEN

In the late summer of 1972, at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, eleven Israeli athletes were murdered by Arab terrorists.

The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame's Pillar of Faith (picutred to the right) is a permanent memorial to the Munich Eleven.

Of the many essays of consolation spoken and published throughout the civilized world regarding the atrocity, the Wingate Institute (which lost three of its staff members in the horror) published the following poem from the Ceylon Times, in its monthly newsletter:

Weep tears again;
Hot bitter tears
For Moshe, slain . . .
With thousands more like him
Bright, radiant, strong,
He came to speak his word, to sing his song;
Bright, radiant, strong, he came
With thousands more like him to play a game.

Tell me, I beg you once again,
Tell me
Why was young Moshe slain?
For some ten thousand-year-old bond of hate?
For some unknown, untold caprice of fate?
Or was it, as they say, because he was Moshe?

Poor young Moshe, they’ll lay you soon
Into the sand where never sun nor moon,
Where never sound nor light
Will touch your endless night.
How sad young friend, that as they say,
You had to die
Because you were Moshe . . .Weep tears again poor world,

Weep tears again,
Hot bitter tears,
For Moshe, slain.


by Nalini

With the 50th anniversary coming up, we wish to honor the 11 Israeli Olympians murdered in Munich in 1972. They are: David Berger, Weightlifter; Ze'ev Friedman, Weightlifter; Yosef Gutfreund, Wrestling referee; Eliezer Halfin, Wrestler; Yosef Romano, Weightlifter; Amitzur Shapira, Track coach; Kehat Shorr, Shooting coach; Mark Slavin, Wrestler; Andre Spitzer, Fencing coach; Yakov Springer, Weightlifting judge; Moshe Weinberg, Wrestling coach.

Munich Eleven 50th Anniversary'

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