The dispute has been smoldering for decades: the survivors of the victims of the 1972 Olympic attack are fighting for access to the files - and more compensation. Now the federal government seems to be moving. But the relatives reacted to the offer "upset and disappointed".
Turning point in the decades-long dispute over compensation payments after the attack on the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich: the federal government is now promising further payments to the families of the victims. "An offer of further recognition services to the survivors of the victims of the attack" is planned, said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior and confirmed corresponding media reports.
The federal government wants to reassess the "serious consequences for the victims' families in immaterial and material terms". The Ministry of the Interior announced "renewed financial contributions from the federal government, the Free State of Bavaria and the state capital Munich". "Trustful talks are currently being held with the representatives of the victims' families."
But it doesn't seem to be that trusting, as statements by Ankie Spitzer, spokeswoman for the victims' families, suggest. "The German federal government has offered us a completely unacceptable and insulting sum as final compensation," she told dpa in Munich. "We are angry and disappointed," especially since it was not an officially signed offer, but a so-called working paper.
Spitzer made a similar statement to the editorial network in Germany. In it, she explained that there was talk of ten million euros. Payments from the years 1972 and 2002 amounting to around four and a half million euros should be offset against this. "Since the Munich attack was an act of international terrorism under international law, we must be compensated according to international standards and not according to local German law," said Spitzer.
The pain is still deep after 50 years. On September 5th, Palestinian terrorists attacked the Summer Olympics. Eleven members of the Israeli team, including Spitzer's husband André, and one policeman died. In Munich, numerous events are currently commemorating the dead and injured. For example, Bavaria's CSU Prime Minister Markus Söder laid a wreath at the memorial in the Olympic Park, not far from the accommodation of the Israeli athletes, where the terrorists had attacked and taken hostages early in the morning.
The Federal Government intends to use the commemoration planned for September 5 as an opportunity for a clear political classification of the events. "Due to the upcoming anniversary and the still unresolved questions of historical processing and classification, the federal government has reassessed these events and the way they were dealt with in the past few weeks," said the spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior.
Spitzer has little to do with these federal plans. "This so-called political classification of the attack does not have to take place during the commemoration ceremonies. You had 50 years to classify this attack," she told the dpa. "We will not accept that Germany turns us into beggars."
If the Federal Republic does not correct its course, the victims' families would not take part in the commemoration, Spitzer made clear. Already on Tuesday evening she had not appeared for an appointment in Munich, which Bavaria's CSU anti-Semitism officer Ludwig Spaenle then canceled. He accused the Federal Republic of state failure. Germany must accept its historical responsibility and adequately compensate the relatives of the murdered terror victims and the survivors.
Adequate compensation has been a struggle for decades. Immediately after the assassination, according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, around 4.19 million marks (around 2 million euros) were paid from Germany to the relatives. The Ministry announced in 2001 that around 3.2 million marks were humanitarian payments by the Federal Republic. The rest were donations from the German Red Cross and services from the National Olympic Committee. In 2002, a further three million euros were given as a humanitarian gesture in view of the special relationship with Israel, according to the Federal Government, the Free State of Bavaria and the City of Munich.
In 1994, the survivors had also sued for damages of around 40 million marks (around 20.45 million euros), citing massive errors in the police operation during the attack and the hostage-taking. However, the plaintiffs failed due to the statute of limitations, and they withdrew their appeal to the Federal Court of Justice in February 2001. In addition to the payments, a commission of German and Israeli historians is to be set up. They should comprehensively process the events and memories from today's perspective and politically reassess and classify them.
