Yossef Gutfreund (1 November 1931 – 6 September 1972) was an Israeli

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

judge for his country's 1972 Olympic team. He was murdered in the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September, who infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two member ...

by Black September terrorists along with 10 other members of the Israeli team.

Biography

Yosef Gutfreund attended medical school in Romania, planning to become a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

, but later took up wrestling. Munich was his third Olympics as a wrestling referee.

Kidnap and death

On 5 September 1972, Gutfreund was sleeping in the Israeli coaches' quarters in the

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

. At around 4:30 am he heard a noise outside the door and went to investigate, thinking that it might be wrestling coach

Moshe Weinberg Moshe Weinberg ( he, משה ויינברג sometimes Weinberger; 19 September 1939 – 5 September 1972) was an Israeli wrestler who was the coach of the national team, as well the coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv. He began his career in Hapoel Haifa. H ...

, who had the other key to the door. He saw the door begin to open and caught a glimpse of masked men with guns on the other side. Gutfreund threw his 6-foot 3-inch, 290 pound frame against the door and screamed a warning to his fellow Israelis. The force expended by Gutfreund on one side of the door and the eight fedayeen on the other was enough to twist the hinges and doorjambs out of place. The precious few seconds allowed his roommate, weightlifting coach Tuvia Sokolsky, to smash a window and escape.When the Terror Began
/ref> In the adjacent Apartment 2, race-walker Dr. Shaul Ladany was jolted awake by Gutfreund's screams and also managed to escape the building. Gutfreund and eight other members of Israeli's Olympic team were captured by the

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

s. Two others who resisted the kidnappers, wrestling coach Weinberg and weightlifter

Yossef Romano Yossef Romano ( he, יוסף רומנו; 15 April 1940 – 5 September 1972), also known as Joseph Romano or Yossi Romano, was a Libyan-born Israeli weightlifter with the Israeli team that went to the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Ger ...

, were killed by the intruders during the initial break-in. Twenty-one hours later, on 6 September, Gutfreund was shot and killed by the terrorists during a failed rescue attempt by West German authorities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutfreund, Yossef 1931 births 1972 deaths Deaths by firearm in Germany 20th-century Israeli Jews Israeli wrestling coaches Victims of the Munich massacre Romanian emigrants to Israel Romanian Jews