Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) in Paramount Pictures SEPTEMBER 5.Photo:Jürgen Olczyk/Paramount Pictures
Jürgen Olczyk/Paramount Pictures
When theMunich Olympics kicked off in 1972, just three decades after the end of Germany’s Nazi regime, the games were set to be a symbol of newfound peace for the country.
That all changed when an armed militant group, the Black September Organization (BSO), broke into the Olympic Village and took 11 members of Israel’s team hostage.
The BSO members who attacked the Israeli athletes were seeking the release of over 300 imprisoned Palestinians, per the Munich attack’sdigital memorial website. The BSO first killed two athletes and took the other nine hostage. David Clay Large, a senior fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, toldNPRthat the BSO killed all of the remaining nine hostages before the German police killed the terrorists.
Here is everything to know about the real events that inspired the Oscar-nominated movieSeptember 5.
What was the Black September Organization (BSO)?
1972 Summer Olympics, Olympic official with terrorist in Olympic Village during crisis, Munich.James Drake/Sports Illustrated via Getty
James Drake/Sports Illustrated via Getty
The Black September Organization was a Palestinian militant group founded in 1970. Their name comes from the Black September conflict — also referred to as the Jordanian Civil War — which took place during September 1970, perBrookings.
What happened during the 1972 Munich Olympics attack that inspiredSeptember 5?
A masked BSO terrorist shows himself on the balcony of the Israeli team’s accomodation in the Olympic Village on the 5th of September in 1972.picture-alliance/dpa/AP
picture-alliance/dpa/AP
During the summer Olympics of 1972 which took place in Munich, a group of Palestinian militants who called themselves the Black September Organization (BSO) broke into the Olympic Village and kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes, per NPR.
Unfortunately, the German plan went awry, per the memorial website. The planned police officers refused to take part and the backup snipers lacked proper equipment and training. That said, Large told NPR, “[The police officers] ended up shooting five of the eight commandos, but not before the commandos then killed in cold blood all of the remaining nine hostages.”
In 2022, 50 years after the attack, Germany officially issued an apology and compensation to the athletes’ families, many of whom had placed blame on German authorities for a lack of protection of Israeli athletes, perThe New York Times.
Who are the characters inSeptember 5?
Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), Hank Hanson (Corey Johnson), Jacques Lesgardes (Zinedine Soualem), Geoff Mason (John Magaro), Carter (Marcus Rutherford) Gladys Deist (Georgina Rich), Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), Marianne Gebhard (Leonie Benesch) star in Paramount Pictures SEPTEMBER 5.Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
InSeptember 5, each of the characters are based on real people.
Geoffrey Mason (Jon Magaro), Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin) and McKay (who appears through archival footage) were all real people working for ABC Sports on Sept. 5, 1972.
Who was Roone Arledge?
Roone Arledge, Vice-President and executive producer of ABC Sports.AP
AP
He was the president of ABC Sports at the time of the 1972 Munich attack and eventually became the president and chairman of ABC News. In his obituary published inThe New York Times, the publication called him “the most important behind-the-scenes figure in the television coverage of the major events of the last half century.”
After the initial attack, Arledge supervised ABC’s coverage for the 17 hours that followed, including McKay’s announcement that all athletes taken hostage had been killed.
On air,the sportscaster said, “When I was a kid my father used to say ‘Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.’ Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were 11 hostages; two were killed in their rooms this morn— yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They’re all gone.”
Who was Geoffrey Mason?
ABC Sports commentator Geoffrey Mason at the 1988 Winter Olympics.American Broadcasting Companies via Getty
American Broadcasting Companies via Getty
During the attack, when a then-unknown number of Israeli athletes were taken hostage at the Olympic Village, it was in large part Mason’s choice to decide what would go on air, perThe Hollywood Reporter.
“I cannot begin to tell you how fast events were unfolding in that room,” he toldTHRin 2024. “Every minute brought a new challenge.”
Did the attack that inspiredSeptember 5actually end up on television?
Demonstrators march outside the Olympic Village in Munich, September 5, 1972.AP
Yes, just like inSeptember 5, the 1972 Munich terror attack was broadcast live on television. At the end of the film, an epilogue explains that it was the first time such an event had occurred in history.
“It was a roller-coaster ride the entire day,” Mason toldTIME.“We were just doing our job, and we had to get [the story] right.”
source: people.com
