Yakov Springer
Encyclopedia
Yakov Springer was a wrestler and a weightlifting
coach and judge, but is best known as one of the victims of the Munich massacre
at the 1972 Summer Olympics
.
During the Holocaust, Springer took part in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
.
The Polish-born Springer was murdered with 10 other men who were representing Israel in the Olympics in Munich. They were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, from the PLO Black September
group. The Palestinians took the 11 Israelis as hostage
s and asked for the release of 236 Palestinian prisoners in Israel and Germany. After the hostages and Black September group members arrived at the airport, the German police attacked in an attempt to rescue them. The group members killed the Israelis with guns and with grenades.
Powerlifting
Powerlifting is a strength sport. It resembles the sport of Olympic weightlifting, as both disciplines involve lifting weights in three attempts. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as 'odd lifts' which followed the same three attempt format but used a wide variety of events akin to Strongman...
coach and judge, but is best known as one of the victims of the Munich massacre
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
at the 1972 Summer Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
.
During the Holocaust, Springer took part in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
.
The Polish-born Springer was murdered with 10 other men who were representing Israel in the Olympics in Munich. They were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, from the PLO Black September
Black September (group)
The Black September Organization was a Palestinian paramilitary group, founded in 1970. It was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of eleven Israeli athletes and officials, and fatal shooting of a West German policeman, during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, their most publicized event...
group. The Palestinians took the 11 Israelis as hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
s and asked for the release of 236 Palestinian prisoners in Israel and Germany. After the hostages and Black September group members arrived at the airport, the German police attacked in an attempt to rescue them. The group members killed the Israelis with guns and with grenades.