The Munich Massacre free essay sample

The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre was the bloodiest hostage taking the world had yet seen. It was a devastating situation which no one was expecting, let alone prepared for. The Munich massacre will be remembered as the beginning of the new age of international terrorism. The terrorist hostage situation took place at the Olympics in Munich, Germany in 1972. This was to be the first time Germany will host the Olympic Games since World War II. At the time, Germany was attempting to show that they were a â€Å"new† Germany, one that was peaceful, or in other words, a Germany without Hitler. Unfortunately, because of this image that Germany was trying to present, the security was very loose, which led to an easy infiltration. The Germans had a fairly accurate idea of what would happen if there were to be a terrorist attack, but the concept was dismissed because it didn’t fit into the scenario of the â€Å"happy games†. We will write a custom essay sample on The Munich Massacre or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This was their greatest mistake. After the hostages were taken, the Germans made many mistakes. The most known are the three attempts at rescuing the hostages. First, they decided to use force. In broad daylight, the German police were given track suits, some running up the steps to the apartments, and others climbing down the walls and running down the stairs to the room where the hostages were being kept. Unfortunately the first plan had a great flaw; the entire media was watching and broadcasting the police action live on television. After realizing this fact, the operation was aborted before it even begun. The next attempt was to attack the terrorists as they passed through the underground garage on helicopters that will take them to an air field from which they will fly back to their country. During the trial run that the terrorists requested, it was announced in a large voice that it was only a trial run and that the police, who were already in position, were â€Å"not to shoot†. This resulted in the second attempt to also be aborted. The third attempt turned in to an all-out shoot out at the air field, resulting in 3 terrorists surviving, one German police man, and all of the hostages killed. The Munich Massacre was the start of the new age of international terrorism. One quote that struck me was something that was said by Ulrich Pabst, a spokesman for the Munich Olympics. He said â€Å"The world was no longer what it had once been. Germany had changed. A need for security had changed. It was a brutal awakening, for all of us. † The massacre at the Munich Olympics proved that a forceful way of protection was now needed. What had affected me the most was to learn that even though in 2004, many years after the event, compensated the victims’ families, but they are still waiting for an official apology.