Bavaria's Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann (CSU), admitted that there were serious omissions in the police operation during the attack on the 1972 Summer Olympics. "Huge mistakes were made back then," Herrmann said on Sunday at a panel discussion marking the 50th anniversary of the attack.

"We must also apologize for that." In the attack on the Israeli Olympic team on September 5, 1972, including the taking of hostages, eleven athletes and a German policeman died.

Steinmeier, Faeser and Herzog at a memorial event

On Monday, the anniversary, a commemoration is therefore planned at the Fürstenfeldbruck airfield, where the kidnapping of the Israeli hostages ended in a bloodbath. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Israel's President Izchak Herzog are expected, as are the victims' relatives. However, they only agreed after the federal government had promised them compensation in the amount of 28 million euros. For 50 years, the families had struggled for financial recognition of their suffering and for an apology.

Historical processing is also very important to many of the bereaved and survivors, but not all files have been released yet. Herrmann emphasized the value of this review by historians from Germany and Israel as well as an inspection of the files: "We have nothing to hide".