The presidents of Germany and Israel will lead ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of the attack on the Munich Olympics on Monday, hoping that a long-awaited compensation deal for bereaved families will finally help them recover from the painful episode.

A dispute over the financial offer previously made by Berlin to the victims’ families had threatened to distort the ceremony, and family members planned a boycott.

But last Wednesday an agreement was finally reached that Berlin would provide 28 million euros in compensation. In addition, the German state recognized – for the first time – its “responsibility” for failures that led to the deaths of 11 Israelis.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier admitted on Sunday that it was “shameful” that it took so long for Berlin to reach an agreement with the families of the victims.

“We have refused to acknowledge the pain of the bereaved for far too long,” Steinmeier said at a state banquet for his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog.

“And for far too long we didn’t want to acknowledge that we also bear our share of the responsibility. It was up to us to ensure the safety of the Israeli athletes,” he said on the eve of the commemorations at the Fürstenfeldbruck air base. The hostage-taking reached its tragic climax.

Munich’s Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter apologized on Monday morning in a separate ceremony in the Olympic Village, where the Israeli team was staying, for the “serious mistakes” made by those responsible for the games.

“I’m sorry and I apologize that after the attack, what was asked of humanity was simply not done – to admit the mistakes and take responsibility for them.”

On September 5, 1972, eight gunmen from the militant Palestinian group Black September burst into the home of the Israeli team in the Olympic Village, shooting dead two and taking nine Israelis hostage.

West German police responded with a botched rescue operation that killed all nine hostages, along with five of the eight hostage-takers and one police officer.

The games were intended to present a new Germany 27 years after the Holocaust, but instead opened a deep rift with Israel.

In 2012, Israel released 45 official documents related to the killings, including specially declassified material denouncing the performance of German security services.

Included in the reports is an official account by former Israeli intelligence chief Zvi Zamir, who said German police “didn’t make even the slightest effort to save lives.”

For years, the bereaved have fought for an official apology from Germany, access to official documents and adequate compensation in excess of the initial 4.5 million euros.

Just two weeks ago, relatives of the victims said they had been offered 10 million euros – including the sum already paid.

Ankie Spitzer, whose husband Andre Spitzer was killed in the hostage-taking, had described the previous offer as “insulting”.

“I came home with the coffins after the massacre,” she told AFP. “You don’t know what we’ve been through in the last 50 years.”

Underscoring the pain felt by the grieving loved ones, Herzog said they simply “ran into a wall” when trying to raise the issue with Germany or even the International Olympic Committee.

“I think there was a tragic repression here,” he said, citing the litany of mistakes that were “inhuman and incomprehensible,” like “the fact that the hostages were led to the slaughter and the games went on.”

After an initial suspension, then-IOC President Avery Brundage said “the Games must go on”.

Herzog expressed hope that the agreement will bring “this painful episode to a place of healing.”

“I hope that from now on we will continue to remember, evoke and most importantly affirm the lessons of this tragedy, including the importance of fighting terrorism for future generations,” the Israeli President said.