Widows give OK to ‘Munich’

The widows of two of the 11 Israeli athletes killed in the 1972 Olympic massacre detailed in Steven Spielberg’s new film “Munich” say the movie neither dishonors their husbands’ memories nor tarnishes their country’s image.

Ilana Romano, widow of weightlifter Yosef Romano, and Ankie Spitzer, who was married to fencing coach Andre Spitzer, are the only Israelis in Jerusalem to have seen the film before its official release late next month. The movie opened in the U.S. Friday.

Spielberg’s co-producer, Kathleen Kennedy, and one of the movie’s screenwriters, Tony Kushner, arrived in Israel earlier this month to hold a private screening for the two widows. That was followed by an emotional discussion that lasted several hours, the women said.

“Kathleen Kennedy said to us that Steven Spielberg’s worst nightmare would be that after we saw the movie, we would say that our husbands were turning in their graves,” recalled Spitzer. “So I said, ‘Well, you can tell Spielberg that he can sleep quietly, because this is absolutely not the case.’ ”

Her one reservation, though, was a concern that those unfamiliar with the story would not be able to separate fact from fiction. “I know that part of it is based on historical events and part is based on fiction, and I don’t think that the regular viewer is going to understand.”

But, she added, “we don’t have a problem with it; the opposite, we are glad that people are being reminded of what happened in Munich so it will never happen again.”

Marvin Levy, Spielberg’s L.A.-based spokesman, said the screening for the two widows was “the most sensitive we would have.... When they said that any concern they might have had was satisfied, this was enormously gratifying and Steven is very proud of that.”