Shaul Ladany's life was saved twice on German soil. The first time, at the age of eight, when he survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and again in 1972, at the age of 36, when he managed to escape the Palestinian terrorists who took over the Olympic building where the Israeli team was staying, killing two and taking nine hostage.
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The two memories will be united in September, when 86-year-old Ladany, who holds the world record in the 50-mile walk, will participate in a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, followed by a ceremony commemorating the Munich massacre the next day.
In an interview with Israel Hayom, Ladany recalled the horrifying events.
"I was staying at an apartment on the ground floor. Each apartment had two floors connected by a spiral staircase. I shared with swimmer Avraham Melamed. The [sports] shooter Zelig Shtroch, who was on the upper floor of my apartment, woke me up and told me that Arabs had murdered the wrestler Moshe Weinberg.
"I put on my walking shoes, went to the main entrance door of the apartment, opened it and saw four meters away who I later found out to be the leader of the terrorist group – 'Issa'. I heard the conversation between him and the village guards, who tried to convince him to allow the Red Cross to enter and provide aid to the hostages. When he refused, they told him: 'Be humane', and he replied: 'The Jews are not humane either.'
Ladany continued, "I went back into the apartment and went up to the second floor, where everyone was already dressed. When I asked what was going on, they pulled back the curtain from the front window and pointed to the blood stain at the entrance, and said: 'It's Weinberg's blood, they've already taken his body.'
"Then someone said, 'The Arabs might try to kidnap us, let's get out of here.' We all went down to the ground floor of the apartment, to my bedroom, someone opened the sliding door to the garden, got out, and started running in zigzags along the lawn. I put my training suit over my pajamas. When I finished everyone had already run away, then instead of running away I went to warn the head of the delegation in the back of the building and together with him I left the building."
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Although most relatives of the victims have announced that they would not attend the upcoming ceremony in Munich to mark the anniversary due to the refusal of the German government to pay "adequate compensation," Ladany plans to attend the event.
"From the beginning, and over the years, I understood that Germany took responsibility for the safety of the hostages," he explained. "They offered the terrorists ransom money, an offer that was rejected. Then they were ready to seemingly agree to the terrorists' demands and simultaneously work for the release of the hostages by force. Since these were Israeli athletes, Germany did not want Jewish blood to be spilled on German soil again. Not every country would have been ready to do this.
"The Germans could be blamed for inexperience and foolishness, but they are not responsible for what happened. They wanted to save the hostages but did not go about it the right way. I don't think there is any legal responsibility here, but that is up to the jurists to determine. I'm not one of Germany's greatest fans, due to my personal history, but it is clear to me that in principle, they wanted to free the hostages."
