Berlin Games (4 page)

Von Halt then scoffed at the idea of seeking Hitler's written guarantee, saying that Hitler's spoken confirmation would have to do. ‘I request your understanding, Mr President, that the head of a government of a nation of 65 million people cannot be made to confirm in writing an affirmation given orally.' Von Halt had clearly never heard of treaties, but then written guarantees from Hitler were to become infamously worthless.

Baillet-Latour was clearly affronted by von Halt's attitude. Ten days later, he wrote back to von Halt from Lausanne. He dismissed the charge that he had been influenced by a hostile press, and claimed that he had gathered his knowledge from official declarations. Was it not true, he said, that Lewald had in fact been replaced by the Reich Sports Minister, and that his participation was only a sham? Were German Jews able to take part in the Olympics representing Germany? If not, this would be ‘contrary to the Olympic charter'. Once more, he demanded that the three German members of the IOC present themselves at Vienna.

So what evidence did Baillet-Latour have that the Jews–and in particular Jewish sportsmen and women–were being discriminated against? The list of measures taken against Jews is extensive, but one law that did affect Germany's right to stage the Games was a decree issued on 26 April, which banned Jews from membership of sports organisations. This directly contravened the clause in the Olympic Charter that read: ‘The Olympic Games assemble together the amateurs of all nations on an equal footing and under conditions as perfect as possible'.

By the time the IOC gathered in Vienna on 7 June, the matriculation of Jews from schools, colleges and universities was limited to just 1.5 per cent of the student body. Any Jews beyond this percentage found it impossible to attend classes, let alone play sports at school. Specific sports were targeted as well. On 8 May, for example, Jews were excluded from tennis competitions. Later that month, any rowing club affiliated to the German Rowing Association was allowed to accept only ‘Aryan' members. The German boxing federation banned Jews on 1 April. On 2 June, just five days before the Vienna meeting, Jews were
barred from gymnastic clubs. That same month the German Skiing Union forbade any subordinate clubs from accepting Jews.

One Jew who was affected by these measures was the eighteen-year-old Margaret ‘Gretel' Bergmann. An exceedingly talented all-round athlete, Bergmann was a member of the Ulmer Fussball Verein (the Ulm Football Club), which despite its name trained its members in all manner of track and field disciplines. Bergmann discovered her niche as a high-jumper, and she soon found her technique improving under expert tutelage. ‘The fact that I had developed a gigantic crush on the coach was also helpful,' she later wrote; ‘trying to impress him I worked twice as hard.' Bergmann recalls her days with the UFV spent at Ettlingen training camp in the Black Forest as idyllic and free from prejudice: ‘When the day's labours were done we all got together for our meal and an evening of socialising. I do not know if any other Jews, besides me and a friend from the UFV, were among these atheletes; nobody cared anyway. Many a close and lasting friendship was formed.' By the end of 1931, Bergmann found herself ranked fourth in Germany.

Her talent did not stop a letter arriving in April 1933, a few days before her nineteenth birthday. ‘It was not a very nice birthday present,' she wrote. ‘The letter informed me that my membership in the UFV had been terminated and that I was no longer welcome. Forgotten were the good times we had together, forgotten were the many medals I had won for them, forgotten was the camaraderie.' By the autumn, Bergmann's parents had decided to send her to England, where she dreamed of joining the British Olympic team. She would soon be sucked back to Germany, however.

At 2.45 on the afternoon of 7 June, the IOC met in yet another fine building at the heart of a European city. The room on this occasion was the Festive Hall of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna, a gaudy affair with marble stucco and a baroque ceiling fresco. The turnout was only marginally better than in Barcelona two years before, with some thirty members in attendance. After welcoming new members, and bemoaning the death of Prince Leon Ouroussoff of Russia, the committee elected four new members to the IOC, two of whom were British–the champion hurdler Lord Burghley, and the author Sir Noel Curtis-Bennett.

Baillet-Latour then turned to the vexatious question of Germany. He briefed his colleagues on the exchanges that had taken place between himself and the Germans, reminding them of the necessity of ensuring that the Olympic code was adhered to. Diplomatically, Baillet-Latour paid tribute to the Olympic spirit and loyalty of the German delegates–Lewald, von Halt and Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He then read out a statement:

There were two weasel clauses here. The first, ‘with the consent of his Government', indicated that the German Organising Committee was not in charge of the Berlin Games; rather the government was. In Germany the government meant only one man: Hitler. The second weasel clause was ‘as a principle'. Although this convinced many of the delegates, it still allowed the Nazis to mete out punitive measures against their Jewish sportsmen and women. Jews may have had the right to compete, but they had little or no opportunities to do so. The provision did not, for example, restore to Gretel Bergmann her membership of her beloved UFV. It did not stop Jews being banned from swimming in public baths, for fear that they would ‘infect' the water. It did not stop the Jews being banned from equestrian clubs, lest the German horses were ‘sullied' by Jewish riders. Like so many other Nazi so-called guarantees, it was valueless. Nevertheless, the IOC members took it at face value. General Sherrill, who had openly questioned Lewald about the rights of Jews to compete, wrote to Rabbi Stephen Wise back in New York, telling him that the negotiations with the Germans had been ‘a trying fight' but that Lewald and his colleagues had ‘finally yielded because they found that I had lined up the necessary votes'. There was an air of finality about the proceedings, as if this distasteful business regarding the Jews was
finally over, a teething trouble, nothing more. Nevertheless, the trouble would not go away.

The IOC was clearly turning two blind eyes to what was going on in Germany. Fine words echoing in fine buildings were not representative of the true situation. In fact, the farcical nature of the Vienna congress was revealed just a few days after it was held. Towards the end of June, von Tschammer und Osten, the Reich's sports minister, made a speech in Berlin which contradicted the empty words spoken by Lewald to Baillet-Latour. ‘We shall see to it that both in our national life, and in our relations and competitions with foreign nations, only such Germans shall be allowed to represent the nation as those against whom no objection can be raised.' That meant only one thing–no Jews were to be allowed to compete. If any IOC member wanted further confirmation of this attitude, then he could have found it more vulgarly expressed in
The Spirit of Sport in the Third Reich
, written by Bruno Malitz, the sports leader of the Berlin SA. After expressing the most un-Olympian sentiment that he could ‘see no positive value for our people in permitting dirty Jews and Negroes to travel in our country and compete in athletics with our best', the author then stated:

The irony of these words, when one considers the eventual fate of Europe's Jews, is sadly clear. So enamoured was Goebbels of Malitz's words that he insisted that every sports club in Germany should have a copy.

Despite the continued persecutions, preparations for the Games continued over the summer without any significant controversies. Then, on 5 October, Hitler decided to pay a visit to the Olympic Stadium, a visit that would have far-reaching consequences. Wearing a beige overcoat and without a hat, Hitler intended his presence to be low-key, which suggested that he was not on state business. It was clear
that the self-styled Fuehrer, who had been in power only for eight months, was still not manifestly convinced of the merits of staging a festival he regarded as Semitic, Masonic and Negroid.

Besides an elite detachment of SS bodyguards, four other men were accompanying Hitler. Dr Wilhelm Frick was one of the Fuehrer's most devoted disciples. He had taken part in the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, and his loyalty had seen him earn high office as the minister of the interior, in charge not only of the police, but also of the nascent concentration camps. Similarly, Hans von Tschammer und Osten had also been with Hitler since the early days. Well groomed, Tschammer und Osten wore the uniform of an army captain–brown riding breeches, leather boots and a peaked cap. Although he was subordinate to Frick in the ministry, there was no doubt that the newly appointed Reich Sports Minister cut the more impressive figure, more impressive even than Hitler.

The third man was Werner March. Unlike Frick and Tschammer und Osten, March had only recently joined the Nazi Party, taking up his membership at the beginning of April. Like many, he had done so because he would otherwise have found it impossible to have maintained his career. For March, becoming a Nazi was simply a matter of expediency and not of ideology. He was not going to see such an important commission undone simply because he had refused to sign a piece of paper. The fourth man was Lewald.

The five men walked slowly away from the two armour-plated Mercedes that had driven them the ten miles from the centre of Berlin. Hitler looked up at the vast concrete stadium. This was March's project, a project that had been started by his celebrated father Otto in 1913. Now that Otto had died, Lewald had entrusted his son with the task of enlarging it in time for the Games. As Hitler and his retinue approached, they could see workmen busying themselves all over the building, their industry stepped up by the presence of the German leader. Much of the activity was centred on the floor of the stadium, which Hitler noticed was being excavated.

‘Why are they digging?' the Fuehrer asked.

‘It's the only way we can increase the capacity,' Lewald answered. ‘We cannot go up, because the Berlin Horseracing Association has insisted that we cannot spoil the view of their track.'

Hitler's reply was to the point.

‘Is the racecourse necessary?'

He was right to pose the question. Berlin had two other tracks, and the one here at the Grunewald was making a loss. The representatives told Hitler that the racecourse was indeed unnecessary.

‘This stadium must be demolished!' Hitler ordered. ‘A new one must be built in its place, capable of seating 100,000 people. It will be the task of the nation! If Germany is to stand host to the entire world, her preparations must be complete and magnificent.'

None of the men was willing to point out that this was a remarkable volte-face on the part of Hitler. For reasons of personal prestige, each of them needed the Games as much as Germany did–who were they to complain that the dictator had changed his mind? Besides, now that the Fuehrer himself was behind the Games, they were bound to be a triumph, a tremendous celebration of sportsmanship. But sportsmanship was the last thing that concerned Hitler. For him, the Games would have little to do with athletics. Instead, they would prove that his fascist regime was an example other nations would have to follow. The XIth Olympiad would prove that Germany, after nearly two decades of subjugation since 1918, was once more on top of the world. Far from being a festival of internationalism, the Games would be one of over-arching nationalism.

Perhaps we are about to witness the development of a new race, a race of men actuated by the principles of sportsmanship learned on the playing field, refusing to tolerate different conditions in the other enterprises of life; a race physically strong, mentally alert and morally sound; a
race
not to be imposed upon, because it is ready to fight for right and physically prepared to do so; a race quick to help an adversary beaten in fair combat yet fearlessly resenting injustice or unfair advantage…

What I believe should be a useful move would be from the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States, at the annual meeting to decide that a request should be addressed to the Athletic Union of Germany in view to make sure that as a consequence of the promise made at Vienna, certain definite measures have been repealed. The German AAU ought to be told as well that if it was not so, the participation of American Athletes is very doubtful and that very likely the consequence would be the refusal by the American Olympic Committee of the invitation of the American [
sic
–German] Committee.

…knew that the Jewish athletes in Germany were being discriminated against in a wholesale and absolutely definite manner and were not given an opportunity to train nor participate and that this extended not only to preparations for the Olympic Games in Berlin, but also for sport competitions within the country with no reference to the Games. To this Dr. von Lewald [
sic
] could make no answer because he knew that he could not deny to me that this was the situation.