#eliezerhalfin

[intriguingpeoplebyangelafloyd]

ELIEZER HALFIN

ELIEZER HALFIN

18 June 1948 - 6 September 1972

MUNICH MASSACRE

            Eliezer Halfin was a Latvian-born athlete who was a member of the Israeli Olympic team in the 1972 Olympics held in Munich, Germany.

            He was born in Riga, Latvia and moved to Israel in 1969 and became a citizen seven months before his death. He worked as a mechanic and was a lightweight wrestler. He had succeeded in winning numerous competitions in wrestling. Participating in the Olympic Games was his goal.

            Halfin was taken hostage with ten other athletes as well as their coaches. He was later murdered by the Palestinian terrorists on 5 September 1972. Five terrorists and one German police officer was also killed. Halfin died after being shot by one of the perpetrators.

            The Munich massacre was an Islamic terrorist attack carried out by eight members of a Palestinian organization, who was able to get inside the Olympic village. The perpetrators demanded the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. They killed numerous victims before they made their demands. Police ambushed the perpetrators and only three survived, after their arrest they were released a month later. Two days before the Olympics were to start; the Olympic Committee honoured the eleven Israelis and the one German who were killed.

            Halfin is buried in Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv.

#eliezerhalfin #munichmassacre