Terrorism
September 5–6, 1972
The Munich Olympics Attack
Mindi Russell recalls being told to distract the athletes and avoid discussing the attack. Her later reflection asks who gets to decide whether another person has been affected.
Munich, West Germany A first-person account from the Police Chaplain Project oral-history archive.
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THE ACCOUNT
Mindi Russell was assigned to American athletes after the Olympics stopped for a full day. She was told to keep them busy and avoid the attack. Looking back through decades of chaplaincy, she identifies the flaw in deciding for another person whether an event should have affected them.
“We don’t tell them how they’re impacted. They tell us.”Chaplain Mindi Russell
WHAT THIS DAY TAUGHT
Lessons to carry forward
Do not prescribe a trauma response
Identity and proximity do not determine impact in a predictable way. Ask what the event meant to the person instead of explaining why they should—or should not—be affected.
Distraction is not processing
Activity may stabilize someone temporarily, but enforced silence removes choice. Make space for conversation without requiring it.
The story needs a nonjudgmental witness
People often understand their own response as they describe it. Listening without minimizing, condemning or rushing creates room for that recognition.
Help people name the emotion beneath the first emotion
Anger may carry sadness; agitation may carry fear. Gentle reflection can help a person distinguish what is happening inside without imposing an interpretation.
THE FIELD BRIEF
For the next command meeting
Before
- Train helpers to ask rather than assume.
- Prepare optional spaces for conversation and quiet.
- Avoid policies built around compulsory silence or disclosure.
During
- Offer stabilizing activity and permission to speak.
- Let the person define the event’s impact.
- Listen without minimizing, correcting or spiritualizing.
After
- Invite the story again when immediate shock has passed.
- Help name emotions without diagnosing them.
- Respect different timelines within the same team.
Use this page to open a tabletop conversation. Adapt every action to local policy, incident command and the needs of the people involved.
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