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Community Corner

Israeli Olympian Survivor of 1972 Munich Massacre to Speak in Pleasanton

Dan Alon had reached the pinnacle to which every serious athlete
aspires: He had made the Olympics. Alon was a 27 year old fencer
for the Israeli Olympic team. The year was 1972, and the place
was Munich.




On 4:30 a.m.on the evening of September 5, Alon was
awakened in his Olympic Village apartment by gunfire and
frantic shouting. The horrific event that came to be known as
the Munich Massacre was under way. By the time it was over,
eleven Israeli Olympians lay dead at the hands of Black
September, a terrorist group. Dan and four teammates
miraculously survived.



On Thursday, March 27, Alon will recount his harrowing
experience at the Amador Valley Theater at 1155 Santa Rita
Road in Pleasanton. Doors open at 7PM, and the presentation
begins at 7:30PM.



"We are deeply honored to host Dan Alon for his first Bay Area
appearance ever," said Raleigh Resnick, Rabbi of Chabad of the
Tri Valley, the event organizer. "Mr. Alon's appearance
provides a special opportunity for the community to connect
directly with someone who personally lived through an iconic
historical event."



Following the tragedy, Alon went on with his life and, for
more than three decades, barely mentioned Munich.
"I really didn't talk about it, not even to my family or my
friends," says Alon. "I tried to stay busy with my business,
with my family."




That changed in 2005 with the release of Steven
Spielberg's "Munich," an epic film about the attack and
Israel's subsequent effort to hunt down those responsible.


"People started to call me and ask me questions,"
says Alon, who lives in Tel Aviv, Israel. That led Alon to
write a book, Munich Memoir, and to hit the lecture
circuit. Alon has spoken at universities and in communities
around the world.




After the killings in 1972, the Munich Olympics
paused for a day, then resumed. Alon says it would have been
unwise to "surrender to terror” and unfair to deny athletes
the chance to compete. "For me, the Olympics are a
sacred space for sportsmen," he says. "I believe still that
the Olympics are very, very good at trying to unite people
around the world."




General admission tickets cost $20, or $15 for students
and seniors. VIP tickets cost $54, and include priority
seating and a private reception with Dan Alon. For more
information and to order tickets, visit www.JewishTriValley.com
or call 925.846.0700.

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