Exactly 53 years ago, terrorists attacked the Israeli Olympic team at Connollystraße 31- they murdered all eleven hostages and a German police officer died in the line of duty. It took another 45 years for the memorial site at the Olympic Park to be inaugurated. The history of the attack also encompasses the struggle of the victims' families for a dignified memorial, appropriate compensation, and historical clarification. Several members of the research project took part a the memorial tour in the Olympic Park at the invitation of Israeli Consul General Talya Lador-Fresher. Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, and Alfred Fliegerbauer, son of Anton Fliegerbauer who was the police officer killed in the 1972 operation, were also present. Werner Karg, a ministerial councillor at the bavarian Ministry of Culture, emphasised the importance of the memorial site, which opened in 2017 and has since served as a freely accessible space providing information about the events of 1972. 

To this day, the families of the victims still have many unanswered questions. After more than five decades, researchers are trying to find answers. For the past two years, an eight-person commission of historians has been collaborating with the IfZ research centre to conduct the first comprehensive scientific examination of the attack and its pre- and post-history. A key aspect of the work has been identifying and making accessible previously inaccessible sources. As well as documents held in archives, this includes those held by authorities such as The Federal Public Prosecutor General (Generalbundesanwaltschaft), The Foreign Intelligence Service of Germany. (Bundesnachrichtendienst) and the German domestic intelligence services (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz). 

Five full-time researchers at the IfZ research centre work closely with the volunteer international commission of historians to analyse the extensive source collections. To date, they have evaluated more than 100,000 pages of documents. Files from over 40 archives and authorities have been incorporated into the research. The researchers are also conducting research in numerous other countries, including those in Europe, the USA, Canada and Israel. They are also examining private papers for the first time and interviewing contemporary witnesses who are still alive. The team has exchanged information not only with external experts, but also with journalists who have researched this topic for years, archiving older interviews with contemporary witnesses, for example. By the end of the project, the team will have made the source search process transparent and attempted to identify any gaps as effectively as possible. For instance, conducting research in Arab countries can be extremely challenging. The project aims to transfer all consulted sources to archives to make them accessible to researchers. 

The research results will be published in two ways. Firstly, the Commission of Historians and the IfZ Research Centre are expected to submit a report to the Federal Ministry of the Interior at the end of 2026. Secondly, an edited volume is planned for publication later in 2027.