During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eight members of the Palestinian terror group Black September attacked the Israeli men’s team. They shot two Israelis and took nine athletes hostage. The hostage-taking began early on 5 September and lasted about 20 hours. A political crisis staff on site worked to end it. Its members included the federal interior minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the Bavarian interior minister Bruno Merk, Munich’s police chief Manfred Schreiber and the head of the organizing committee, Willi Daume. In the night to 6 September, a failed rescue attempt by the Bavarian police ended in disaster. All hostages, one police officer and five Palestinians died. A 2022 article by Eva Oberloskamp, published by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, describes the crisis management. The decision-makers konnten sich auf keine klar definierten Verantwortungs- und Entscheidungsfindungsstrukturen stützen, could rely on no clearly defined structures of responsibility and decision-making. The Bundeswehr had trained snipers, but German law did not allow it to be deployed. The police officers sent to Fürstenfeldbruck had evidently been inadequately trained. The GSG 9, a new police special unit, was founded in direct response to the attack. The legislative process was launched on 26 September 1972. In April 1973 Ulrich Wegener, the officer charged with setting it up, reported the unit ready for action.