Longtime ESPN reporter and E60 host Jeremy Schaap will be at The Westport Library on Monday, December 12, from 7 to 9 pm, to screen his new film, The Survivor, an ESPN-produced documentary that looks back at the 1972 Munich Massacre, when terrorists murdered 11 Israeli sportsmen at the Summer Olympics.
Schaap, an 11-time Emmy Award winner for his work as a sports reporter and investigative journalist, also will host a talk after the screening, to be held in the Library’s Trefz Forum.
“We are delighted to have Jeremy at the Library to show and discuss this important film,” said Bill Harmer, executive director at The Westport Library. “Jeremy is one of the finest reporters of his generation. He has covered some of the most pressing issues in sport and society with incredible depth and nuance. I’m so looking forward to his presentation, as I’m sure so many in our community are.”
Schaap traveled to Israel and Germany to tell the story through the eyes of 86-year-old Israeli race walker Shaul Ladany, who survived the massacre, as he had World War II and the Holocaust when he was a child.
“In his long life, Shaul Ladany has seen up close the worst of humanity,” said Schaap. “Not only has he survived, he has pressed forward, constantly, to lead a life of achievement. The lessons of his life are valuable to us all. I was honored to be part of the team that told the story of what he endured and what he witnessed. Ladany’s story is not so well-known here in the United States — but it should be.”
The Munich Massacre was the first terrorist attack broadcast live on television around the world. The Survivor breaks down the tragedy through archival video and news reports, along with new interviews and reporting. In addition to Ladany, others interviewed for The Survivor include Zelig Shtroch, Ladany’s roommate and a shooter on the Israeli Olympic team; Shlomo Levy, an Israeli photojournalist who was embedded with the team in Munich; and Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.
The Survivor was produced and directed by Frank Saraceno, with Schaap serving as the lead reporter and narrator.
Click here to register for the December 12 event.
