The Flag of Israel and The Olympic Rings

DAVID MARK BERGER Magen David, the Star of David                         

1972 olympic weightlifter  

      
  David Mark Berger was born June 24, 1944 in Ohio. Throughout his young life, David exemplified ability, determination, and self-   
  confidence. He was a National Merit Scholar, a college graduate with three degrees, a 1965 and 1969 U.S. Maccabiah weightlifting 
  competitor, the 1969 U.S. Junior Nationals Weightlifting (Middleweight Division) gold medalist, and an Israeli Olympian.
 

  In 1970, David made aliyah to Israel, joined Maccabi Tel Aviv and won the Lightheavy Division in the Israeli National weightlifting

  competition. In 1972, he earned a spot on the Israeli Olympic team. David was scheduled to begin Israeli military service that year,

  but he was not an expatriate; he was a dual Israeli-U.S. citizen.


  David had many options at the time of the 1972 Olympics. He was licensed to practice law in the state of New York, where he
  passed the bar exam in 1970. While training and preparing to compete in the Olympics, his proficiency in Hebrew progressed,

 but David had not yet attained the level of fluency required to practice law in Israel, nor had he studied for the Israeli bar exam.
     

  In late August, David flew to Munich with the Israeli Olympic team. On September 2, 1972, he competed, but was eliminated in an   
  early round. Winning a medal was not David's goal; participating in the Olympic Games, whose ideals of peace and brotherhood he
  believed in were honor enough. David Berger achieved his Olympic dream. 

 

  On September 5, 1972, at about 4:30 AM, terrorists broke into the Olympic Village at Munich, and took Israeli Olympic team
   members hostage. David Berger was one of the Olympians who died. He was 28 years old.


  David Berger embodied what the International Olympic Committee describes as the 'Olympic Spirit': to build a peaceful and better

  world, with mutual understanding and a spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play.  

            

  Olympic Gold for Israel! The Flag of Israel

              
  At the Athens 2004 Olympics, Israeli Olympian Gal Fridman, a windsurfer, won Israel's first gold medal. The national anthem

 played, Israelis waved flags, and Fridman dedicated his medal to the eleven athletes murdered at the 1972 Olympics.

 

 Fridman said, "I'm sure they're watching us. We think about them all the time. They're always on our mind. When I get home, I will

 go to the memorial place for them in Tel Aviv and show them the gold medal."  


  "David would have been pleased" David's father, Dr. Benjamin Berger, said. "He would have been happy to see an Israeli win.”

                         life          weightlifter          1972 olympics          links          memorial