By Eva Oberloskamp

This project, with the aim of providing a scholarly examination of the 1972 Olympic attack, began its work a year ago, in September 2023. To begin, the entire team convened in Munich for an initial working meeting. Conceptual issues were discussed, and research work on the sources was launched with a workshop featuring representatives from archives and public authorities. In August 2023, Petra Terhoeven from the commission of historians and Lutz Kreller from the IfZ traveled to Israel and presented the research project to the victims’ families. In the spring of 2024, another virtual meeting took place, involving the entire team and the relatives of the victims, with the next meeting scheduled to take place later this year. 

Current areas of focus 

The project has developed a catalog of research questions. During the first year, our work has focused on the events of September 5 and 6, 1972, the networks of collaborators who supported the terrorists in West Germany, the release of the surviving attackers as brought about by the hijacking of an airplane on October 29, 1972, and the subsequent consequences of the Olympic attack for German-Israeli relations. 

From the beginning of the project, we have gathered a large number of relevant sources –many of which have, now for the first time, been identified, located, and examined in connection with the Munich Olympic attack. These efforts are very labor-intensive, as the documents are to be found at many different archives and public authorities. Rigorous research is often required to determine where important files are located in the first place. The archives and public authorities whose documents we have already reviewed include: the German Federal Archives in Koblenz, the Political Archives of the Federal Foreign Office, the Stasi Records Archive, the Bavarian State Archives, the Munich State Archive, the Munich City Archives, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service, the Federal Prosecutor General and various other public prosecutors’ offices, the state archives of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, the Lufthansa Archive, the International Olympic Committee Archive, the German Olympic Sports Confederation Archive, the Israel State Archives, as well as numerous other foreign archives, including those in the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, the United States, and Switzerland. 

 Access to the documents 

Access to German archival documents is legally regulated. Different conditions can apply: There are, firstly, files on the Olympic attack that are already freely accessible. Secondly, many archival documents related to September 5 and 6, 1972 are still subject to restricted access periods. These documents can be released for our project if we demonstrate a special research interest. We were, for example, able to review police records of witness statements and interrogations in the Bavarian archives that were actually still restricted due to data privacy. 

Thirdly, there are relevant documents in archives that are subject to access restrictions due to their level of confidentiality. These include, for example, intelligence documents that were classified as particularly sensitive at the time of their creation and have never since been re-evaluated by the authorities. Several members of our team are now able to access these documents after having undergone a government security clearance process. 

And fourthly, there are relevant documents that remain in the possession of the German authorities and have yet to be entered into archives, such as those held by the Federal Prosecutor General, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service, and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community. We can access these documents as well – either based on the aforementioned security clearance or through a signed declaration that the information will not be disclosed to third parties. If we wish to use documents from the third and fourth categories for the publication of our findings, we will need to apply for this separately, to be reviewed by the relevant authorities. Our goal is to have such documents transferred to archives and made openly accessible for researchers whenever legally possible. Thanks in part to support from the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, our project as a whole has received access to an extensive range of documents. Many of the documents we can now evaluate have never been used in research before. 

Challenges

Despite our favorable starting position, we do face several challenges: We have repeatedly found that individual files crucial to our research were classified as being unworthy of archiving and were destroyed by the relevant authorities years ago. We have at times managed to find copies of these files in other German or foreign archives. There have also been individual documents or files whose whereabouts could not be conclusively determined, leaving us unsure as to whether they are still being stored somewhere or have already been destroyed. While research into such cases can require considerable effort, our goal remains to accurately identify any such gaps in the end. The release of these documents can take a considerable period of time or can even be denied if the information originates from foreign security agencies, as the respective foreign authorities will also need to approve of their disclosure. 

The current war resulting from the attack on Israel by Hamas has also had an impact on our project. Thankfully, the Israeli members of the commission of historians have remained safe. In-person meetings between the Israeli researchers and other members of the project group are, however, currently more difficult to arrange. Working with Israeli documents has become more complicated since October 7, 2023. Moreover, important documents that had been made available online by the Israel State Archives were no longer accessible for a period of time due to a hacker attack. 

Upcoming work 

In the coming months, our research efforts will extend beyond the aforementioned focal points to cover all thematic aspects of the project. This will include, among other things, how the West German authorities processed the events of September 5 and 6, 1972, new approaches to West German counterterrorism after the Olympic attack, the country’s policy towards the PLO and Fatah, and how it has treated the families of the victims. 

Another in-person meeting of the entire team will take place later this year. A conference is to follow in 2025, featuring external scholars and experts. A dedicated project website will go online in early September 2024 to provide transparent updates on the progress of the work. It is of particular importance to us to keep the victims’ families informed and to explain the findings to them in detail as soon as valid results are available. In the summer of 2026, the project is to present a final report to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community. The research results will also be published in a comprehensive academic volume soon thereafter. 

Commission and Working Methods 

In 2023, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community commissioned a comprehensive academic study of the 1972 attack on the Munich Olympics, its background and subsequent events. The team consists of an eight-member international commission of renowned professors working in a voluntary capacity, as well as a full-time administrative and research office at the Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) in Munich. The professors on the commission share their expertise at regular joint meetings, where research progress and subsequent steps are discussed. The task of the administrative and research office is to coordinate the overall project and carry out practical research tasks: IfZ researchers comb through archives for relevant files, locate sources that have remained in the possession of public authorities, and evaluate the documents. Commission members also participate in these tasks, with close collaboration between the commission and IfZ researchers In thematic working groups. 

Eva Oberloskamp 
(Head of the administrative and research office at the Institute for Contemporary History, IfZ)