Shaker Heights Native To Be Inducted Into National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

David Berger -- a Shaker Heights native and member of Israel's weightlifting team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich -- will be entered posthumously into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Berger was one of the 11 athletes and coaches taken hostage and killed by members of Black September, a Palestinian terrorist organization, during the Olympic games.

Berger's induction will occur on April 21 at the Hall of Fame in Commack, New York.

Berger, 28, was as smart -- if not smarter -- than he was strong.

He was a National Merit Scholar in high school and ultimately earned his doctorate of law degree from Columbia University.

In 1969 he was a gold medalist at the U.S. Junior National Weightlifting competition -- lifting 290lb. press; 255lb. snatch; 340lb. clean & jerk; 920lb total, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Berger emigrated to Israel the same year, intending to open a law office in Tel Aviv.

After Berger's death on Sept. 5, 1972, his body was returned to the United States and he was buried in Northeast Ohio.

Berger has been honored in several ways. The weight room in Shaker Heights High School is named after him.

He and the other athletes and coaches who died in Munich have also been inducted into Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

Additionally, the David Berger National Memorialof the Mayfield Jewish Community Center in Cleveland Heights. However, when the community center was demolished in 2005, the memorial was moved to the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood.