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LOT 45:
Envelope With the Signatures of the Athletes Who Participated in the Munich Olympics, some of whom were Murdered. ...
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Sold for: $950
Start price:
$
500
Estimated price :
$1,500 - $2,000
Buyer's Premium: 22%
VAT: 17%
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Envelope With the Signatures of the Athletes Who Participated in the Munich Olympics, some of whom were Murdered. Munich, 1972
Envelope with the signatures of 13 [out of 25] athletes who participated in the Munich Olympics, 1972. Amongst the signatures are five of the eleven athletes who were murdered: the weightlifters Yoseph Romano, David Berger and Zev Friedman, as well as wrestlers, Eliezer Halfin and Mark Slavin. The five were murdered in the terrible massacre by the "Black September" organization.
Background: The massacre of the members of the Israeli delegation to the Munich Olympics took place on September 5th-6th, 1972, during the 20th Olympic Games in West Germany. Eleven athletes, trainers and judges were murdered by Palestinian terrorists from the Black September organization. The massacre took place in a series of several major terrorist attacks against Israeli targets by Palestinian forces, and is still considered one of the most well-known terrorist acts due to the circumstances and occurrence during the most important sports event.
The athletes who signed the envelope died under different circumstances: Yosef Romano, who was taken hostage by the kidnappers, attacked one of the terrorists with a fruit knife, and was simultaneously shot and badly wounded by another terrorist. The terrorists left him on the room's floor to bleed to death as a warning to other bound hostages. David Berger, Zev Friedman, Mark Slavin and Elazar Halfin were killed along with the other hostages during the failed German forces' rescue attempt.
The envelope was stamped and signed on 21/8/1972 at Ben-Gurion airport. After the athletes arrived in Munich, a series of postage stamps commemorating the Olympics, along with a postmark dated 1/8/1972, were stamped on the envelope. [A stamp containing the Olympic Games commencement date, in this case 1/8, appeared on all souvenir envelopes issued during the Olympic event].
Condition: Very fine.
