Mark Slavin ( he, מרק סלבין, russian: Марк Славин; 31 January 1954 – 6 September 1972) was an Israeli Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler and victim of 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 members ...

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 19 ...

. He was the youngest of the victims at the age of 18. He was taken hostage with eight other Israeli

athletes An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-develo ...

. Slavin was shot by

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames ...

in a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

during a botched

rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ...

attempt. Slavin was born in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

, Belarus SSR, and had taken up wrestling as a youth to defend himself against

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

attacks. Slavin soon became noted as a talented wrestler, and won the Soviet Greco-Roman wrestling middleweight junior championship in 1971. Slavin had moved to Israel just four months before the Olympic games and he joined Hapoel Tel Aviv and the Israeli Olympic Team. The 1972 Olympics was due to be his first international competition for Israel, and Slavin had been considered Israel's most likely medal winner at the Munich games. He was the youngest Israeli Olympian competing at the games. Slavin had been staying in Unit 3 at 31 Connollystraße in the Olympic Village, with fellow wrestlers

Gad Tsobari Gad Tsobari ( he, גד צברי sometimes Tsabari, Zobari, or Zabari; born 30 January 1944) is an Israeli-born light-flyweight freestyle wrestler and a member of Israel's 1972 Olympic team. He finished 12th (of 50) in his event, and was consider ...

and

Eliezer Halfin 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. Along with 10 other athletes and coaches he was taken hostage and later murdered by Pal ...

, and weightlifters David Berger,

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 ...

and Ze'ev Friedman. Slavin had been due to make his Olympic debut on the day heavily armed terrorists broke into the Olympic Village and captured him while the Olympic athletes were still asleep.

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Mark Slavin
Munich 11 * 1954 births 1972 deaths Sportspeople from Minsk Jewish Belarusian sportspeople Soviet Jews Soviet emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Belarusian male sport wrestlers Israeli male sport wrestlers Jewish wrestlers Victims of the Munich massacre Deaths by firearm in Germany Olympic wrestlers of Israel Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Soviet male sport wrestlers Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery {{paramilitary-action-stub