 "Photo: Michael Pickering")
Daniel Alon could not keep silent for any longer.
"For 34 years I stayed silent," Alon said. "I was full of anger. I'm traveling and telling the students (about Munich) because when you know it, you can prevent another Munich."
Alon was a member of the Israeli fencing team during the 1972 Munich Olympic games when a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Black September, took the team hostage. The group killed 11 Israeli team members during an attack on the team's apartment building. Alon was one of five survivors.
Alon, who spoke at 5 p.m. Thursday in Shriver Center Multipurpose Room, shared with Miami University students his story in, "A Survivor's Tale: Daniel Alon Speaks Out."
It was not until after the release of Steven Spielberg's movie Munich that Alon began publicly discussing his experiences.
When Alon began to share his story, starting with how to he learned to fence as a 12-year-old boy, the packed room in Shriver Center fell silent.
Alon recounted the events of the Olympics; how he felt compelled to stay in apartment No.2, how he marched into the stadium behind the Israeli flag with 100,000 people cheering and how it felt to participate in the first Olympics to be held in Germany since World War II.
"I felt so proud of myself to reach that moment and represent Israel," Alon said. "We were telling everyone we are still alive."
Alon also recalled his first match against the champion of Germany, which he won. He went on to beat several other opponents before finally losing to a British fencer.
Then the focus of the games changed from athletics to politics, as Palestinian terrorists took Israeli athletes hostage in the early morning of Sept. 5.
In the building where Alon, his teammates, coach and other personnel were sleeping, the terrorists went from room to room taking hostages and the two men who tried to fight back were killed right away.
Alon described being able to hear the shots from the machine gun though the wall behind his bed's headboard. Luckily for Alon, he and a few others managed to escape before the terrorists made it to apartment No.2.
"I remember my turn (to escape)," Alon said. "I jumped over the fence to the garden and I turned around. I watched the (terrorist) on the balcony and we stared at each other for about five seconds before I turned and ran to the German Police."
Alon also spoke about the time following the tragedy.
"It was one of the saddest days of my life to collect the belongings of the athletes," Alon said. "There was blood everywhere, and a mess, things all over the floor including dolls and toys young father's had bought for their children."
In the end, it was Alon's message for awareness and peace that resonated with Miami students.
"I thought he was great," said Eric Greenberg, a Miami senior and member of Miami Students for Israel, who organized the event. "It had the same feel as when you hear a Holocaust survivor speak. I think it's really relevant to today. I think his message was for peace, but the point of telling the story is to remember. It is a Jewish tradition to remember details of tragic events."
Miami junior Mike Silverstein went to see Alon speak because he went to Israel this past summer.
"It was a pretty good story not too many people know about," Silverstein said. "His message was perseverance and to keep fighting for peace."
At the end of his speech Alon looked toward the future.
"Since Munich, Israel is fighting terror everyday," Alon said. "But its not just Israel anymore, we're all involved in this now. We are facing now a very dangerous time. The nations have to come together and reach a (nonviolent) solution."
