“Willingness to Take Punishment”: Munich Olympics Massacre Sole Survivor Opens Up on Surviving the Tragic Incident in 1972

Munich was slated to host a peace festival, and the 1972 Olympics Games were meant to be a happy celebration. Germany aspired to portray itself as a modern, democratic nation, more than 25 years after the Nazis’ destructive war. However, the moment of joy turned into a wicked moment filled with people shouting everywhere, as eight members of the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September broke into the Israeli athletes’ housing in the Olympic Village.

50 years after the horrific massacre, an Israeli survivor, Shaul Ladany, recalled the moments.

The survivor of the Olympics Massacre Shaul Ladany

Recently, Shaul described his panic during the massacre where the terrorists murdered 11 athletes and coaches. He recalled that the Holocaust was a determination to become a successful record-breaking race walker in Olympics. He added, “It moulded me and taught me to be able to live with discomfort…When you are racing, it’s not the most pleasant feeling. You have to make an effort.”

Further, he added, “You need a certain type of mental attitude: a willingness to take punishment, to have a lack of comfort and pain, to continue and continue. Since I had experienced challenge during the Holocaust, I knew how to take the discomfort.”

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Shaul concluded, “I didn’t think it was too soon, but I had mixed feelings. You have to remember, of all the Israeli Olympic team, I was the sole Holocaust survivor.” Ladany had previously competed in the Olympics, at the games in Mexico in 1968. The athlete broke the 50-mile world record earlier in 1972. However, this was not the first time he saved himself from a massacre.

Shaul survived the Nazis during World War II

During World War II, when Nazis planned to invade Yugoslavia, he and his family searched for a place to hide. His family found a place to hide in and stayed there for a month. There, he had to witness the hunger and assaults on people. In 1972, he had to witness the killing of eleven other Israeli athletes and coaches who died in the Munich Massacre.

When the massacre occurred, Ladany swiftly gathered the rest of the Israeli team and left the area. The tragedy increased support for the Palestinian cause and heralded a new era of global terrorism.

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