Amitzur Shapira
Munich Massacre victim (1932–1972)
Amitzur Shapira (Hebrew: עמיצור שפירא; 9 July 1932 – 6 September 1972) was an Israeli sprinter and long jumper. He was head coach for the Israeli track and field team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He was killed in the Munich massacre.
Biography
Amitzur Shapira was born in Mandatory Palestine and was a resident in Herzliya. For many years, he served as a teacher and educator at the Wingate Institute. Shapira was married with four children.
Shapira attended the 1972 Summer Olympics as the head coach for the Israeli track and field team. During the event he and 10 other members of the Israel Olympic team were taken hostage by Arab terrorists. Two of the Israeli hostages were shot at the beginning of the ordeal and the other nine (including Shapira) were murdered on the tarmac of Furstenfeldbruck airbase during a botched rescue attempt by Munich police and Bavarian border guards.
Shapira was the coach of Esther Shachamarov who later became an Israeli Olympic athlete (in 1976, she became the first Israeli to reach an Olympic final).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Amitzur Shapira” as munich Massacre victim (1932–1972). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as munich Massacre victim (1932–1972). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q472517. VIAF identifies the subject as 19533899. The Library of Congress control number is nr91013840. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1932, 1972 and 1976.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Amitzur Shapira”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Amitzur Shapira primary sources, Amitzur Shapira archive and Amitzur research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Amitzur Shapira”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Amitzur Shapira” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.