Twelve Months – Twelve Names

June: YOSSEF ROMANO

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.

Yossef Romano commemorative competition

Yossef Romano was born in Libya, an Italian colony at that time. In 1946, his parents fled with their twelve children to what was then Palestine to escape antisemitic riots. The family settled in Herzliya where Romano went to school and completed an apprenticeship. Romano’s talent as a weightlifter was discovered by chance when, as a 20-year-old, he was seen lifting a friend up in the air on a public beach. In the 1960s, Romano dominated the Israeli middleweight weightlifting championships. However, before he could demonstrate his talent at the Summer Olympics in Munich he ruptured a tendon.

Yossef Romano was one of four weightlifters murdered on September 5, 1972. A commemorative weightlifting competition to honor him and his colleagues David Mark Berger, Ze'ev Friedman, and Yakov Springer (competition judge) is to be staged by the Eichenauer Sportverein in June together with the Historischer Verein für die Stadt and the Landkreis Fürstenfeldbrück e.V. An exercise room with original equipment installed in 1972 as an Olympic training facility for weighlifters still exists in the Friesenhalle in Eichenau.

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.