Twelve Months – Twelve Names

May: ELIEZER HALFIN

The terrorist attack during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich will be commemorated for the 50th time in 2022. In memory of the twelve people killed, institutions from Munich and Fürstenfeldbruck are dedicating each month to one victim, his life and fate.

In May the District of Fürstenfeldbruck is commemorating the freestyle wrestler Eliezer Halfin. Halfin and his sister, whose parents were survivors of the Shoah, grew up in Soviet Riga where Halfin became a successful freestyle wrestler. For years, the family endeavored to follow relatives to Israel. Due to the restrictive emigration regulations, this was not possible until 1969. In Israel Eliezer Halfin completed a Hebrew course—which was obligatory for all immigrants—in a kibbutz near the national Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports. This enabled Halfin to continue training while studying the language and to achieve his main goal—to participate at the Olympic Games.

As an addition to the exhibition “September 5, 1972—The End of the ‘Happy Games’ in Munich,” the Landratsamt Fürstenfeldbruck is staging a presentation on the private person and sportsman, Eliezer Halfin. The main exhibition was first created in 2012 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Munich Massacre. “September 5, 1972—The End of the ‘Happy Games’ in Munich,” is a historically researched and, at the same time, emotional history lesson, as the Landrat Thomas Karmasin explains.

For many years, the District of Fürstenfeldbruck has been striving to present the events of September 5 and 6, 1972 in a vivid way to a wide audience and to interest the younger generation in particular for this contemporary historical subject. Together with the local history society—the Historischer Verein für die Stadt und den Landkreis Fürstenfeldbruck e. V.—and Fürstenfeldbruck city guides, the District of Fürstenfeldbruck is holding guided tours on:

Monday, May 9, at 10am and 5pm
Thursday, May 12, at 2pm
Tuesday, May 17, at 10am
Friday, May 20, at 2pm
Monday, May 23, at 2pm
Tuesday, May 24, at 5pm
Wednesday, May 25, at 10am
Tuesday, May 31, at 2pm

A tour of the exhibition lasts approx. 1½ hours; admission is free of charge. The number of participants for each guided tour is limited to 15. Advance registration is necessary under:
oeffentlichkeitsarbeit(at)lra-ffb.de

Commemoration Project
Twelve Months – Twelve Names
50 Years Olympic Massacre Munich

To mark the 50^th anniversary of the Summer Olympics in Munich, the Munich Massacre of September 5–6 , 1972 is to be commemorated throughout 2022. Every month one victim will be at the focus of attention. A variety of different actions in public spaces is planned, ranging from installations lasting the entire month to activities on one specific day.

This commemoration project has been conceived and coordinated by the Jewish Museum Munich in conjunction with the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism and the Consulate General of the State of Israel. 

It will be implemented with cooperation partners including the Amerikahaus Munich, the Landkreis Fürstenfeldbruck, the Deutsches Theater, the Police College—Hochschule für den öffentlichen Dienst in Bayern – Fachbereich Polizei, and the Munich Police Headquarters, as well as other cultural and educational institutions and interested parties.

The Jewish Museum Munich is also accompanying the commemoration project on its blog and its social media channels under the hashtag #MunichMassacre72.