Ankie Spitzer spoke at a memorial in Germany yesterday, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre. Spitzer is the widow of Andre Spitzer, one of the 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympic games. The tragedy was marked with a ceremony at the Furstenfeldbruck airfield in Munich, where the final showdown between German police and the terrorists took place four decades ago. In her remarks, Spitzer criticized the International Olympic Committee, which refused to …More

Ankie Spitzer will lead a minute of silence this weekend with the help of the JCC of Rockland, honoring the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre. Spitzer, the widow of Munich 11 victim Andre Spitzer, has been at the center of an international call for a memorial at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. The International Olympic Committee refused, and now the Rockland JCC will use the start of the Maccabi Games as a platform to see that a commemoration takes place. Spitzer will be in Rockland Sunday for …More

The memory of the Munich 11 was finally honored in London yesterday, though not due to any help from the International Olympic Committee. A memorial service for the Israeli victims of the 1972 Olympic terrorist attack drew 850 attendees—including the British prime minister, London mayor, Israeli officials and athletes, friends and families of the deceased, and beloved Israeli actor Chaim Topol, who acted as master of ceremonies. As it does every Olympics, the Israeli Committee organized the event to pay …More

A memorial service for the Munich 11 may turn into a roast of International Olympic Committee head Jacques Rogge, who intends to speak at the event. The service will take place Monday in London and was organized by the Israeli Olympic Committee. Rogge was asked to address attendees at the start of this year, before his rejection of the minute of silence campaign made headlines. Now, with much bad blood between Rogge and the widows who spearheaded the initiative, Jewish leaders are predicting some harsh words for …More

The son of one of the slain Munich 11 is featured in a Simon Wiesenthal Center video released today, aimed at uncovering some of the political underworking that went into the International Olympic Committee’s refusal to uphold the minute of silence campaign. Guri Weinberg, son of late Israeli athlete Moshe Weinberg, was part of the campaign to memorialize the death of his father and the other 10 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian terrorists in the ’72 Olympics. In the SWC video, he recounts a …More

The minute of silence campaign, aimed at honoring the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre at the ’72 Olympics, had humble beginnings. What is now a massive, global movement—supported by governments in the US, UK, Europe and beyond—started with a group of concerned individuals in suburban New York. And as the hours trickle down to tonight’s Olympic opening ceremony, the JCC Rockland is still doing its part. The JCC has worked with Ankie Spitzer on the Just One Minute campaign for …More

Rob Lattin is Jspace News' Foreign Affairs Correspondent. In addition to covering foreign affairs for Jspace, Rob is a blogger on Israeli and Middle Eastern foreign policy for the Foreign Policy Association, as well as a freelance writer. He can be reached by email at rob@jspacecorp.com. Two years ago, the widow of Israeli fencing coach Andre Spitzer, who was killed in the 1972 Munich Massacre, began a petition to lobby the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to observe a moment of silence in this year’s …More

The International Olympic Committee rejected an in-person appeal for a minute of silence at the opening ceremonies of the London Games by the widows of two of the 11 Israelis slain at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Ankie Spitzer and Ilana Romano presented their request to IOC President Jacques Rogge on Wednesday along with a petition with more than 100,000 signatures. Rogge again denied the request. Rogge held a minute of silence in memory of the murdered 11 athletes and coaches at a small ceremony Monday …More

Israel’s only Class A wrestling referee, Yossef Gutfreund, actually wanted to become a veterinarian. Born in Romania in 1931, Gutfreund studied in medical school until he was imprisoned for distributing Zionist propaganda. The athlete left Romania at the age of 17, traveling to Israel and serving in both the 1956 Sinai War and 1967 Six-Day War. Wounded while on tour in Gaza, he refused to be evacuated until the cease-fire was reached. He also tended the burns of a group of Egyptian soldiers abandoned by …More

Fencing coach Andre Spitzer believed in the Olympic ideal. The 27-year-old would stroll through the Olympic Village and regularly chat with natives from countries at odds with Israel, insisting that this was the one place where he and his Arab competitors could interact outside of the political conflict. His wife, Ankie Spitzer, remembers Andre shaking hands with the Lebanese team after inquiring after their events results during the Munich Games. “The idea of the Olympics is first to forget that you are …More

Born in Romania, Kehat Shorr devoted himself to shooting and became an expert marksman at an early age. In June of 1941, Romania joined the invasion of the former Soviet Union alongside Nazi Germany. Shorr, marked for internment because of his Jewish heritage, hid in the Carpathian Mountains with fellow partisans who raided the cities to rescue other trapped Jews. He moved to Tel Aviv suburb Neve Sharrett in 1963 with his wife and daughter. At the age of 53, he was a civil servant in Israel’s Defense …More

The head coach for the Israeli track and field team, Amitzur Shapira began his sports career as a short distance runner and long jumper in the 1950s. Born in 1932 in Tel Aviv, Shapira became an instructor at the Orde Wingate Institute, Israel’s national center for physical education, in Netanya. He moved to Herzilya with his wife and four children. By 1972, the 40-year-old had trained 10 of Israel’s best athletes. He discovered Olympian Esther Shahamorov-Roth when she was only 14, and she became his …More