by Ronnie Friedland
September, 2000--We may think of Israelis as tough, brash, and vital, but One Day in September, a riveting film about the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972, portrays a different image. Here, once again, we see Jews tied up, helpless, victims.
The images are deeply disturbing.
The chain of events that led to the death of the Israeli Olympic athletes, and the lack of an adequate response to their capture, boggle the mind. As the documentary conveys, the West German government failed to protect the Israelis and utterly botched any plans to save them. East German Olympic athletes worked with the Black September movement terrorists, told them how to locate the Israelis, and alerted the terrorists to plans to rescue the hostages. In a situation eerily reminiscent of the Nazi period when so many who could have helped Jews feared to do so, the German rescue teams, afraid for their lives, backed out. Once again, helpless Jews died in Germany while the rest of the world stood by.
Although we know in advance that the athletes will be killed, the film has viewers sitting on the edge of their seats, hoping against hope that the outcome will be different.
The film opens ironically with a clip from an advertisement for the Munich Olympics, inviting viewers to this idyllic setting. It then follows two people who were integral to the events: Israeli Olympic wrestling coach Andre Spitzer and Black September terrorist Jarnil Al Gashey.
Spitzer, who had been married to a Dutch woman for a little over one year, had a baby daughter at the time he was killed. From interviews with his open and engaging wife, we learn about their marriage and their last moments with together. We also see their daughter, now an adult, talk about the father she never got to know.
Jarnil Al Gashey, giving his first interview ever, states his motives for participating in the hostage taking and killing--to bring the Palestinian cause to the center of world attention. He also proclaims his pride in having succeeded.
In an effort to be even handed, the documentary shows scenes of the crowded refugee camp where Al Gashey had lived. Al Gashey discusses his state of mind back in 1972--his desperate wish to return to his family's homeland, and his expectation that he would never be able to do so. Although the Israeli Mossad (Secret Service) eventually killed the other two surviving terrorists, Al Gashey has been in hiding somewhere in Africa ever since, where he lives with his wife and daughters.
The film intersperses clips of athletes competing in the Olympics in 1972 with interviews with Germans who had a role in handling the events; Zvi Zamir, director of the Mossad at the time; a member of the International Olympic Committee; and surviving members of the Israeli Olympic team. As it follows the events, tension mounts until the final, disastrous outcome.
According to producer Arthur Cohn, speaking in a question and answer session at Boston University, his reason for making the film was to make public an authentic record of the events that occurred. Cohn, who also produced five other Oscar-Award-winning films (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, The Sky Above, the Mud Below, Black and White in Color, American Dream and Dangerous Moves) and the popular Central Station, said that the German reaction to the documentary was overwhelmingly positive, praising the accuracy of his portrayal of events.
Certain things, however, remain baffling. For example, the Mossad had requested permission from Germany to bring in a hostage rescue squad, permission which was denied. Nevertheless, the Germans did allow Zamir to observe the German rescue plans. Since the film makes clear how inadequate those plans were, it is hard to comprehend how Zamir allowed such poor plans to proceed.
Nevertheless, the film tells a compelling story, one that 28 years later still shocks and amazes.
One Day in September, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature last March, was directed by Kevin MacDonald and narrated by Michael Douglas.
Don't miss the film, which will be shown on September 11 on HBO.
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