Eliezer Halfin (18 June 1948 – 6 September 1972) was a Latvian-born

wrestler 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 spor ...

with the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i Olympic team at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. 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 The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, 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. Eliezer was a mechanic by profession and was born in Riga, Latvia. He came to

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 Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

References

External links

* 1948 births 1972 deaths Israeli Jews Jewish wrestlers Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Israeli male sport wrestlers Latvian Jews Olympic wrestlers of Israel Victims of the Munich massacre Deaths by firearm in Germany Sportspeople from Riga Soviet male sport wrestlers Soviet emigrants to Israel Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery {{Israel-wrestling-bio-stub

See also

References

External links