David Mark Berger (; May 24, 1944 – September 6, 1972) was an American and Israeli Olympic weightlifter, and one of the 11 Israeli Olympians taken hostage and killed by the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

group

Black September Black September (), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was an armed conflict between Jordan, led by Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by chairman Yasser Arafat. The main phase of the fight ...

during the Munich massacre at the

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

. Born and raised in the United States, Berger was a lawyer by education and had emigrated to Israel after taking part in the

1969 Maccabiah Games At the 8th Maccabiah Games from July 29 to August 7, 1969, 1,450 athletes from 27 countries competed in 22 sports in Israel. The final gold medal count was the United States in first place (64), Israel second (48; though it won the greatest numb ...

, where he won a gold medal.

Early life and athletic success

David Mark Berger was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, on May 24, 1944. His mother was Dorothy Berger, (née Davidson), and his father was Benjamin Berger, who was a well known physician. A high school honors student as well as an athlete, Berger graduated from

Shaker Heights High School Shaker Heights High School is a public high school located in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The high school is the only public high school in the Shaker Heights City School District, which serves Shaker Heights and a small part ...

in 1962. He attended

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

in New Orleans from 1962 to 1966 where he was an honors student. While studying at Tulane, he continued weightlifting training at the

New Orleans Athletic Club New Orleans Athletic Club (NOAC) is an American athletic organization founded in 1872, making it the second-oldest such institution in the United States. It is located at 222 North Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. History The club was ...

. As a junior at Tulane, he won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

weightlifting title in the 148-pound class. Berger earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in psychology from Tulane in 1966. He went on to enroll in a combined MBA-JD program at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York, from which he graduated in 1969. While working toward his degrees, Berger continued to devote time to weightlifting, training at the McBurney

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

. During his time in New York, Berger competed in the middleweight division. In 1968, competing as a middleweight, he finished fourth in the U.S. Olympic trials. His father, Benjamin, was once quoted as saying, "I used to tell him ‘You may not be the best weightlifter in the world, but you’re certainly the smartest!’" After winning a gold medal in the middleweight weight-lifting contest in the

, Berger

emigrated to Israel ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally described ...

, intending to open a law office in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

after completing his

compulsory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

. Berger continued competing in weightlifting, but moved up in body weight to the lightheavy class. He won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the

1971 Asian Weightlifting Championships The 1971 in sports, 1971 Asian Weightlifting Championships were held at the auditorium of the Far Eastern University in Manila, Philippines between October 9 and October 11, 1971. Weightlifters from seven countries Iran, Israel, South Korea, Philipp ...

, and achieved a long time dream when he was chosen to represent Israel as a member of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team. In late August of that year, Berger flew to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

with his teammates. On September 2, 1972, Berger competed, but was eliminated in an early round.

Death

Early on the morning of September 5, 1972,

Palestinian terrorist Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence or terrorism committed by Palestinians with the intent to accomplish political goals in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Common objectives of political violence by Pal ...

s took Berger and his five roommates

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

, after having earlier broken into the

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is a residential complex built or reassigned for the Olympic Games in or nearby the List of Olympic Games host cities, host city for the purpose of accommodating all of the delegations. Olympic Villages are usually located clos ...

and seized six officials in another apartment as well as wounding wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg in the face. While the athletes were being moved to the first apartment, Weinberg grappled with the intruders, allowing flyweight wrestler Gad Tsobari to escape but resulting in Weinberg’s death by gunfire. As the remaining hostages and terrorists entered the officials’ apartment, weightlifter

Yossef Romano Yossef Romano (; 15 April 1940 – 5 September 1972), also known as Joseph Romano or Yossi Romano, was a Libya, Libyan-born Israeli weightlifter with the Israel at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Israeli team that went to the 1972 Summer Olympics ...

also attempted to overpower the intruders. Romano was cut nearly in half by automatic fire (his corpse was left all day at the feet of the hostages, who were tied to beds), and Berger was shot in his left shoulder, a wound seen by German officials later in the day. It is believed that Berger, being physically one of the largest of the hostages, was also beaten in order to intimidate the other hostages. After all-day negotiations, the terrorists and their tied-up hostages were transferred from the Olympic Village via helicopter to

Fürstenfeldbruck Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it had a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base. Geography F ...

airbase outside of

, where the terrorists believed they would be flown to a friendly Arab nation. Instead, the German border guards and Munich police attempted to ambush the terrorists and free the hostages. After a two-hour gunfight, one of the terrorists turned on the helicopter in which Berger was sitting and sprayed it with machine-gun fire. The other three hostages in the helicopter were killed instantly, but somehow Berger only received two non-lethal wounds in his legs. However, the terrorist then detonated a

hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

inside the helicopter, causing a huge explosion and fire. An autopsy found that Berger had died of

smoke inhalation Smoke inhalation is the breathing in of harmful fumes (produced as by-products of combusting substances) through the respiratory tract. This can cause smoke inhalation injury (a kind of acute inhalation injury) which is damage to the respirator ...

. The five hostages in the other helicopter were all shot to death by another terrorist. While the 10 other Israeli Olympians were flown to and buried in Israel, David Berger's body was returned to the United States on an Air Force jet personally ordered by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. Berger is buried at

Mayfield Cemetery Mayfield Cemetery is a historic Judaism, Jewish cemetery located at 2749 Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Established in 1890, it is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County and the only Jewish Rural ...

Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. One of Cleveland's historic streetcar suburbs, it was founded as a village in 1903 and a city in 1921. History The area that is ...

Memorials

* David Berger National Memorial in

Beachwood, Ohio Beachwood is a city in eastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 14,040. A suburb of Cleveland, it is a part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. History The land that eventually became Beachwo ...

, honors the memory of Berger and his fallen teammates. * In 2002,

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

renamed "Avenger Field," located in Audubon Park, "David Berger - Avenger Field" in memory of Berger and the other victims of terrorism." * Berger, along with the other ten members of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team killed in Munich, was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.David Berger
Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Accessed February 2, 2011. * The

weight room is named after Berger. * The David Berger Memorial Weightlifting Tournament is held every year at the Lost Battalion Hall in Rego Park, Queens, New York * David Berger AZA #1823 is a

BBYO BBYO is a Jewish teen movement, organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The organization is intended to build the identity of Jewish teens and offer leadership development programs. On June 19, 2001, ...

chapter in

, named in honor of him. * David Berger AZA #2059 is a

chapter named for him in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. * David Berger is also the name of a street in Ashkelon, Israel. * David Berger mural of the

References

External links

David Berger AZA websiteDavid Mark Berger website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, David 1944 births 1972 deaths Columbia Business School alumni Columbia Law School alumni Israeli male weightlifters American male weightlifters American terrorism victims Maccabiah Games medalists in weightlifting Competitors at the 1969 Maccabiah Games Deaths by smoke inhalation Jewish American sportspeople Jewish Israeli sportspeople Jewish weightlifters American people murdered abroad Murdered American Jews Sportspeople from Cleveland Tulane University alumni Weightlifters at the 1972 Summer Olympics American emigrants to Israel Olympic weightlifters for Israel Sportspeople from Shaker Heights, Ohio Victims of the Munich massacre Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Burials at Mayfield Cemetery Naturalized citizens of Israel 20th-century American Jews Jews from Ohio 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Israeli sportsmen

Early life and athletic success

Death

Memorials

See also

References

Further reading

External links