The David Berger Memorial Sculpture Near Cleveland Has An Incredible Story To Tell
By Nikki Rhoades|Published August 16, 2020
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Nikki Rhoades
Author
Nikki is a lifelong Ohioan with a love for literature. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Akron and has enjoyed publishing her written work since 2007. She has a love of travel and does so frequently, though she believes that home is where the heart is — she continues to work in and around Cleveland as a digital content specialist to this day, working on everything from commercial scripts and social media posts to grassroots marketing initiatives.
Historic recurrence is a theme that you may have learned about over the years… it essentially means that history repeats itself. We’ve seen it time and time again as kingdoms have risen and fallen. We must learn about history, good and bad, to ensure we as humans don’t make the same mistakes. Today we are going to take a look back at the most infamous event in Olympic history, in which a Cleveland-born Olympic athlete and 10 other souls were lost too soon. This article will merely provide a brief overview of the tragic event and will keep the grimmer details of the heartbreaking situation to a minimum, but you are encouraged to dig more into this historic event… lest we forget.
There's a strange structure in Beachwood, Ohio that requires a bit of understanding of history to appreciate.
This structure, the David Berger Memorial Sculpture, tells a tale of heartbreak, of violence, and of one world coming together in a time when technology was evolving.
To understand this story, we'll have to travel back to the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.
This event was the second Olympic event to be held in Germany, just after the 1936 Games in Berlin. During the former games, Adolf Hitler purportedly snubbed Cleveland-raised Jesse Owens. While the games were revolutionary thanks to television satellites and incredible architectural design, the event was largely overshadowed by what became known as the Munich Massacre.
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In the second week of the games, an attack known as the Munich Massacre unfolded.
David Mark Berger was at the event competing as a weightlifter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, but he moved to Israel with the intent of opening a law practice. While there, he was chosen as a member of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team.
Berger and his athlete roommates were sleeping when Palestinian group Black September breached the grounds. In total, 11 Israeli Olympic team members were taken hostage. When negotiations went south, all 11 individuals were killed. Police killed five of the eight kidnappers during rescue attempts, and the remaining three individuals were later captured.
Initially, the media reported that the hostages survived. The optimistic news left viewers from around the world crestfallen when the truth finally emerged.
Based on regulations outlined in the West German constitution, and, of course, post-war tension, the army had been unable to assist in the athletes' rescue. The Olympics ceased for a full 34 hours, and a memorial service following the attacks drew 80,000 spectators.
A memorial was erected outside of Olympic Stadium in Munich, and one was eventually erected in Greater Cleveland.
The structure over in Beachwood consists of broken Olympic rings, unveiled in 1975. The rings rest on 11 segments to represent each athlete whose life was taken. It was originally situated in Cleveland Heights, but it eventually moved to the grounds of the Mandel Jewish Community Center. Though Berger had dual citizenship, he did not return to Israel with the other deceased athletes. Instead, his body came home to Greater Cleveland and was laid to rest in Mayfield Cemetery.
Today, the monument stands in memory of 11 brave, hardworking athletes lost too soon.
The structure, a national memorial, also stands to remind us of the horrors of terrorism. Following the event, many athletes ceased participation in the 1972 Summer Olympics. The event was "broken," like the rings of this memorial, following the tragedy. We see historic recurrence again and again, and this memorial reminds us to this very day that the humans of the world are stronger when standing in unity.
The Munich Massacre claimed the lives of several gifted individuals, including one Cleveland-born Olympic athlete, in an event that was covered heavily by the news. Though the event is decades in the past now, this monument still stands at 26001 S Woodland Road to greet and educate visitors. You can learn more about the sculpture, the tragedy, and the people involved in it on the National Parks Service website.
Want to visit another local memorial? Swing down to Medina, Ohio to view a 9/11 Memorial featuring a piece of the Twin Towers.
You can enjoy Cle’s attractions and hidden gems here.
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