Eliezer Halfin
| Eliezer Halfin | |
|---|---|
 Eliezer Halfin | |
| Born | June 18, 1948 Riga, Latvia |
| Died | September 6, 1972 (aged 24) Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany |
Eliezer Halfin (18 June 1948 – 6 September 1972) was a Latvian-born wrestler with the Israeli Olympic team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.[1] Along with 10 other athletes and coaches he was taken hostage and later murdered by Palestinian Black September terrorists on 5 September 1972.
Eventually they were brought to a German airport and during an attempted rescue mission staged by the German police, all nine hostages were killed on 6 September. Five of the terrorists and one German policeman were also killed. The subsequent autopsy, carried out by the Forensic Institute of the University of Munich, concluded that Halfin had died from a bullet to the heart and noted that Vivil mints were found in both trouser pockets of his corpse.[2]
Eliezer was a mechanic by profession and was born in Riga, Latvia. He came to Israel in 1969 and officially became an Israeli citizen seven months prior to his death. He was survived by his parents and a sister. He was a lightweight wrestler and was active for 11 years. In Israel he was a member of Hapoel Tel Aviv club. He won 12th place in the world championships. During 1971 he placed second place in the international competition in Bucharest, Romania. In 1972 in Greece he placed 3rd. Participating in the 20th Olympic Games was the highlight of his career and his dream. Eliezer is buried in Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Eliezer Halfin Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg (4 December 2015). "Munich Olympic Terrorist Attacks: German Ex-Interior Minister Disputes Torture Claims". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "404: Page not found". munich11.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
External links
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- 1948 births
- 1972 deaths
- Citizens of Israel through Law of Return
- 20th-century Israeli Jews
- 20th-century Latvian Jews
- Soviet Jews
- Jewish sport wrestlers
- Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics
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- Victims of the Munich massacre
- Deaths by firearm in Germany
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