The two widows fighting for justice for the Munich victims

International

-DW News

Tel
Aviv,
Aug
29:
Ilana
Romano’s
Tel
Aviv
apartment
feels
as
if
time
has
stood
still.
Black
and
white
photos
are
spread
around
the
living
room;
the
furniture
is
that
of
a
typical
Israeli
household
from
the
1970s
—
only
the
flat
screen
television
provides
a
reminder
that
the
year
is
2022.

In
many
ways,
the
decor
is
symbolic
of
the
lives
of
Ilana
Romano
and
Ankie
Spitzer.
On
September
5,
50
years
ago
their
lives
changed
drastically
when
Ilana’s
and
Ankie’s
husbands,
Yossef
and
Andre,
were
murdered
in
the
terrorist
attack
at
the
1972
Munich
Olympic
Games.

Since
then,
the
two
have
become
a
symbol
of
the
conflict
between
the
victims’ families
and
the
German
government
over
the
compensation
for
the
deaths
of
their
loved
ones.

At
the
time
of
the
attack,
Ilana
Romano
and
Ankie
Spitzer
were
26-year-old
young
mothers,
with
Ankie’s
first
child
born
a
few
months
prior
to
the
Munich
Games.Both
weren’t
convinced
by
the
explanations
provided
by
German
authorities
and
they
weren’t
prepared
to
let
it
slide.

Oktoberfest
festival
to
take
place
again
in
Munich

For
half
a
century,
they’ve
spent
time
collecting
information,
talking
to
the
media
and
trying
to
connect
the
dots
in
a
bid
to
understand
what
really
happened
and
receive
what
they
believe
is
a
just
compensation
for
the
German
government’s
wrongdoings.

They
had
no
expertise,
no
connections
and
no
experience
in
running
public
campaigns,
but
they
had
something
which
has
proven
to
be
stronger:
Each
other.
DW
spoke
exclusively
to
the
two
ahead
of
the
50th
anniversary
of
the
attack
in
Munich.

‘It
was
not
a
dream,
but
pure
reality’

“There
was
a
knock
on
my
door,
it
was
7
a.m.,”
Romano
recalls.
It
was
her
neighbor,
telling
her
to
turn
on
the
radio.
“There
has
been
a
terrorist
attack.”

Before
travelling
to
the
Games,
Romano’s
husband,
weightlifter
Yossef
(Yossi),
reassured
her
after
she
shared
misgivings
about
the
trip.
“When
the
Germans
do
something,
they
do
it
perfectly,
he
told
me.”

Later
that
day,
she
learned
that
her
husband
had
been
held
hostage
and
by
7
p.m.,
a
knock
on
her
Tel
Aviv
door,
told
her
that
Yossi
was
the
terrorist
attack’s
second
casualty.
“I
woke
up
the
morning
afterwards
and
asked
myself
whether
it
was
all
a
dream.
It
wasn’t
a
dream,
but
pure
reality,”
she
says,
before
reflecting
on
the
statement
with
an
expression
that
still
bares
pain.

‘We
didn’t
want
to
be
apart’

While
Romano
learned
of
her
husband’s
murder
at
her
home
in
Tel
Aviv,
Ankie
Spitzer
was
in
the
Netherlands,
where
she
was
born,
when
the
attack
took
place.
Her
own
husband,
fencing
coach
Andre
Spitzer,
had
been
at
the
Olympic
Village.

“Before
traveling
to
my
parents
with
my
baby,
I
went
to
Munich
for
two
weeks
to
visit
Andre,”
said
Spitzer
as
her
calm
demenour
cracked
in
recounting
the
events.
“We
were
only
married
for
a
year
and
three
months.
We
were
in
love,
we
didn’t
want
to
be
apart.”

Due
to
their
baby
being
sick,
Andre
traveled
to
the
Netherlands
to
be
with
him,
before
returning
to
the
Olympic
Village
the
night
before
the
attack.
“My
parents
woke
me
up
at
7
a.m.
and
told
me
there
had
been
an
attack.”

Hours
later,
she
found
out
her
husband
was
one
of
the
hostages.
Ankie
did
see
her
husband
alive
one
last
time,
as
he
was
one
of
the
Israeli
athletes
who
spoke
to
the
German
authorities
through
a
window,
a
scene
broadcast
to
millions
around
the
world.

“I
told
my
parents
that
Andre
would
call
me
first
thing
after
he’s
free.
This
call
never
came.”
At
3:15
a.m.
she
received
the
news:
All
the
Israeli
hostages
had
been
killed

“I
remember
I
returned
to
Munich,
and
on
my
way
to
the
Olympic
Village,
I
saw
athletes
training
on
both
sides
of
the
road,”
she
recalls.
“As
if
11
members
of
their
Olympic
family
had
not
just
been
murdered.
It
was
horrible.”

‘Aggressive’
COVID
protesters
demonstrate
in
Munich

The
struggle
begins

A
month
after
the
terrorist
attack
in
Munich,
Ankie
and
Ilana
met
and
found
their
common
denominator.
“We
both
felt
the
same
and
we
wanted
to
know
the
truth,”
recalls
Spitzer.

Opposing
them
were
two
powerful
organizations
in
The
Federal
Republic
of
Germany
and
the
International
Olympic
Committee
(IOC).
Their
demands
included
opening
the
archives
of
both
Bavaria
and
the
Federal
Republic
of
Germany
to
ascertain
what
happened,
securing
compensation
and
ensuring
the
IOC
recognizes
and
remembers
the
victims.

After
bouncing
from
court
to
court,
politician
to
politician,
still
no
agreement
has
been
reached.
A
document
handed
to
the
families
by
the
German
embassy
in
Tel
Aviv,
and
seen
by
DW,
accepts
Germany’s
responsibility
for
the
athletes’
murder.
It
also
listed
Germany’s
latest
offer
to
the
victims’
families:
Paying
an
additional
€5.4
million
($5.39
million)
on
top
of
the
€4.6
million
already
paid.
The
families,
however,
want
€9
million
per
victim.

The
sum
is
symbolic
as
the
terrorists
who
survived
the
Munich
attack
were
later
released
after
a
Lufthansa
plane
was
hijacked,
with
the
hijackers
demanding
their
release,
in
addition
to
$9
million
dollars
(€9
million
at
today’s
rate).
Germany
granted
them
their
request.

“[The
German
government]
have
been
torturing
us
for
50
years.
They
never
stop
lying
and
humiliating
us,” says
Spitzer.
“We
just
want
to
know
what
happened
to
my
husband
and
others.
We
didn’t
receive
any
answers.”

“They
wanted
to
present
a
different
Germany,”
says
Romano,
with
Spitzer
completing
the
sentence
with
“there
wasn’t
a
different
Germany.”

More
than
just
about
money

As
the
battle
for
justice
and
compensation
continues,
the
victims’
families
have
decided
to
boycott
Germany’s
official
ceremony
to
mark
50
years
since
the
attack.
The
Israeli
Olympic
Committee
says
it
stands
behind
the
families
and
will
join
the
boycott

Both
Romano
and
Spitzer
are
aware
that
some
in
Germany
will
argue
their
insistence
is
about
greed.
“Money’s
just
money,”
says
Romano.
“But
what
Germany
did
to
us
is
about
much
more
than
money.”

More
specifically,
she
says,
it’s
about
the
victims’
children
growing
up
without
their
father
and,
as
was
the
case
at
the
time,
the
family’s
main
provider.
“We
always
explained
that
despite
the
terrorist
group
which
murdered
their
father
being
responsible
for
the
attack,
it
doesn’t
mean
all
Palestinians
and
Arabs
are
like
that.
We
are
very
happy
our
kids
grew
up
without
any
hate
[towards
Palestinians]
in
their
hearts.”

Recognition
from
the
IOC

Though
their
demands
of
the
German
government
haven’t
been
met
yet,
the
two
have
made
inroads
elsewhere
and
were
personally
invited
by
IOC
President
Thomas
Bach
to
attend
the
Tokyo
Olympics.

For
the
first
time
ever,
a
minute’s
silence
was
dedicated
to
the
attack’s
victims
at
the
official
opening
ceremony
of
the
2020
Olympic
Games
in
Tokyo,
thus
ending
the
families’
49-year
campaign
for
official
recognition
from
the
Olympic
family.

“I
immediately
shouted,
Ilana,
Ilana!” Spitzer
remembers.
Her
friend
and
long-time
partner
for
the
journey,
however,
wasn’t
listening.
Romano
was
crying.

“After
49
years
of
writing
and
talking
and
traveling
between
places,
all
of
a
sudden
we
see
Japan’s
Caesar
and
the
French
president
commemorate
our
loved
ones,
with
millions
watching
at
home,” Spitzer
recalls.

For
both
it
was
a
“dream,”
and
they
thanked
IOC
boss
Bach
for
the
chance
to
experience
the
moment
while
still
alive.

‘Feels
surreal’

Asked
about
her
feelings
ahead
of
the
anniversary,
Romano
says
the
pain
is
just
as
strong
as
it
was
in
the
days
after
the
attack.
“If
someone
says
time
heals,
let
me
tell
you:
It
doesn’t.”

“We’ve
had
to
fight
for
both
compensation
and
recognition
for
49
years
now,”
says
Spitzer.
“It
feels
surreal.”

Their
strength
in
standing
against
the
government
of
one
of
the
strongest
and
richest
countries
on
the
planet
is
to
be
commended,
but
at
the
beating
heart
of
it
is
their
friendship.

“I
picked
her
up
when
she
was
down,
and
she
did
the
same
with
me.
Meeting
Ankie
was
the
biggest
luck
I
could
have,”
says
Romano.

Source: DW