Take me to Gail's EFL Garden, please
ALL GROUPS:
"What is a good Jewish girl doing in a place like this?" Gretel Bergmann
asked herself for the hundredth time. Being the nice Jewish girl she was,
Gretel knew exactly what she was doing at the Adolf Hitler Stadium in Stuttgart,
Germany in 1936. She was saving the lives of her family and those of German
Jewish athletes! Unfortunately many were to perish later in the gas chambers
of the Holocaust, including her beloved grandparents, a few years later.
Against her will, Gretel was attending the trials for a place in the team
that would represent Germany in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. She was
aware of the consequences if she refused to attend. Yet, the 22 year old
girl knew she wouldn't get into the team, no matter how good she was.
GROUP A:
Bergmann was a natural born athlete and excelled in track and field.
In some competitions she would win six different events in one day. But
her specialty was the high jump. In 1933, aged 19, she left home to study
physical education in the Berlin university where she had been accepted
as a student. That same year Hitler came to power and began to put his
antisemitic laws into force. The university, on learning that she was a
Jew, demanded she leave. Her parent decided that she should go to England
and continue her studies there. In 1934 she won the British high jump championships.
At the same time as the championships, her father paid her a visit. When
the competition was over, he took his daughter aside and told her she must
return to Germany to try out for the German Olympic team. If not, her family
as well as all the Jewish athletes in Germany would suffer. Worried that
America would boycott the games because of their antisemitic laws, Germany
announced that 21 Jews, including Gretel, had been invited to attend their
training camp. The Americans agreed to attend. Ironically, Gretel noticed
that Jews were not permitted in restaurants, movies, concerts, or resorts,
yet she was being considered for a place on the German Olympic team! Gretel
and the other Jewish athlete were being used as a Nazi pawn to prove that
a Jew could make the 1936 German Olympic team.
Twice a year Bergmann was sent away to training camp with the rest of the nucleus team from which the best three for every event would be chosen. There, she received proper training facilities that had been denied her outside of the camp. Officially she could not compete with her non-Jewish German teammates on a 'technicality'. She was not a member of the German Track and Field Association, a requirement for any German athlete. Jews were banned from the Association! An added insult by the Germans was to put Doro Rajen as Bergmann's roommate at the camp's training sessions. Gretel became suspicious of Ratjen's sex; doubting that Ratjen was a female. It served a purpose for the Germans, Ratjen would not have a relationship with Bergmann since Aryan men could be severely punished for doing so and Gretel could not complain for fear of being thrown out of the training camp and further persecution. In 1966 he revealed himself as Herman Ratjen, saying that he had been forced to pose as a female athlete with the hope of winning an Olympic medal. He/she never did!
GROUP B:
In 1936, Bergmann was one of the world's best woman's high jumpers
and a favorite for an Olympic medal. She took the national German title
with a jump of 5' 3" that some weeks later, would win gold.
"I saw all those Nazi flags, and the officials saluting 'Heil Hitler',
she said, "it made me mad and so I decided to show them how a Jew can jump
better than those 'superior Aryan'. I jumped like a fiend and I won. I
still have the trophy with its swastika."
But, as she knew from the beginning, she would not be selected for
the team. The Germans could not bear the thought of a Jew being better
than the 'superior Aryan'. A month before the Berlin Games she received
a letter from the German Olympic Committee saying that she was not good
enough to represent the Fatherland. "Looking back on your recent performance,
you could not possibly have expected to be chosen for the team." For compensation,
she was given a free, standing-room ticket to the athletics event "expenses
for transport and hotel accommodation cannot be supplied. Heil Hitler."
Bitterly disappointed, she emigrated to America in 1937 with only $10
in her pocket, swearing never to return to Germany. She changed her name
to Margaret and married Dr. Bruno Lampert whom she had known in Germany.
After a break, she returned to her sport and twice won the US national
high jump championships in 1937 and 1938.
Sixty years have passed since those fateful Berlin Olympic Games. To
make some sort of amends for their disgraceful behavior, the German Olympic
Committee have invited Margaret Bergmann Lampert-a white haired active
and hearty 82 year-old New Yorker-to be the guest of honor at the Atlanta
Olympic Games. After much heart-searching she accepted the invitation,
saying "I don't hate all the Germans any more, though I did for a long
time. I'm aware of many Germans trying to make up for the indescribably
terrible wrongs as well as they know how. The young people should not be
held responsible for the crimes of what their elders did, so I decided
to accept their invitation. I will cheer for the American teams, I could
never cheer the Germans. Going to Atlanta as the guest of honor of the
German Olympic Committee will be good for my mental outlook. It will make
the ghost of the past a little less unfriendly."
GROUP C:
"What is a good Jewish girl doing in a place like this?" Gretel Bergmann
asked herself for the hundredth time. Being the nice Jewish girl she was,
Gretel knew exactly what she was doing at the Adolf Hitler Stadium in Stuttgart,
Germany in 1936. She was saving the lives of her family and those of German
Jewish athletes! Unfortunately many were to perish later in the gas chambers
of the Holocaust, including her beloved grandparents. Gretel was
attending the trials for a place in the team that would represent Germany
in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games against her will. She was aware of the
consequences if she refused to attend. Yet, the 22 year old girl knew she
wouldn't get into the team, no matter how good she was.
Bergmann was a natural born athlete and excelled in track and field. In some competitions she would win six different events in one day. But her specialty was the high jump. In 1933, aged 19, she left home to study physical education in the Berlin university where she had been accepted as a student. That same year Hitler came to power and began to put his antisemitic laws into force. The university, on learning that she was a Jew, demanded she leave. Her parent decided that she should go to England to continue her studies. In 1934 she won the British high jump championships. At the same time as the championships, her father paid her a visit. When the competition was over, he took his daughter aside and told her she must return to Germany to try out for the German Olympic team. If not, her family as well as all the Jewish athletes in Germany would suffer. Hitler was worried that America would boycott the games because of their antisemitic laws, so Germany announced that 21 Jews, including Gretel, had been invited to attend their Olympic training camp. The Americans agreed to attend. Ironically, Gretel noticed that Jews were not permitted in restaurants, movies, concerts, or resorts, yet she was being considered for a place on the German Olympic team! Gretel and the other Jewish athlete were being used as a Nazi pawn to prove that a Jew could make the 1936 German Olympic team.
GROUP D:
Twice a year Bergmann was sent away to training camp with the rest
of the nucleus team from which the best three for every event would be
chosen. There, she received proper training facilities that had been denied
her outside of the camp. Officially she could not compete with her non-Jewish
German teammates on a 'technicality' since she was not a member of the
German Track and Field Association, a requirement for any German athlete.
Jews were banned from the Association! An added insult by the Germans was
to put Doro Rajen as Bergmann's roommate at the camp's training sessions.
Gretel became suspicious of Ratjen's sex; she doubted that Ratjen was a
female. It served a purpose for the Germans, Ratjen would not have a relationship
with Bergmann since Aryan men could be severely punished for doing so and
Gretel could not complain for fear of being thrown out of the training
camp and further persecution. In 1966 he revealed himself as Herman Ratjen,
saying that he had been forced to pose as a female athlete with the hope
of winning an Olympic medal. He/she never did!
In 1936, Bergmann was one of the world's best woman's high jumpers and a favorite for an Olympic medal. She took the national German title with a jump of 5' 3" that some weeks later, would win gold. "I saw all those Nazi flags, and the officials saluting 'Heil Hitler', it made me mad and so I decided to show them how a Jew can jump better than those 'superior' Aryan. I jumped like a fiend and I won. I still have the trophy with its swastika."
But, as she knew from the beginning, she would not be selected for the team. The Germans could not bear the thought of a Jew being better than the 'superior Aryan'. A month before the Berlin Games she received a letter from the German Olympic Committee saying that she was not good enough to represent the Fatherland. "Looking back on your recent performance, you could not possibly have expected to be chosen for the team." As to compensate, she was given a free standing-room ticket to the athletics event "expenses for transport and hotel accommodation cannot be supplied. Heil Hitler."
GROUP E:
Bitterly disappointed, she emigrated to America in 1937 with only $10
in her pocket, swearing never to return to Germany. She changed her name
to Margaret and married Dr. Bruno Lampert whom she had known in Germany.
After a break, she returned to her sport and twice won the US national
high jump championships in 1937 and 1938.
Sixty years have passed since those fateful Berlin Olympic Games. To make some sort of amends for their disgraceful behavior, the German Olympic Committee have invited Margaret Bergmann Lampert-a white haired active and hearty 82 year-old New Yorker-to be the guest of honor at the Atlanta Olympic Games. After much heart-searching she accepted the invitation, saying "I don't hate all the Germans any more, though I did for a long time. I'm aware of many Germans trying to make up for the indescribably terrible wrongs as well as they know how. The young people should not be held responsible for the crimes of what their elders did, so decided to accept their invitation. I will cheer for the American teams, I could never cheer the Germans. Going to Atlanta as the guest of honor of the German Olympic Committee will be good for my mental outlook. It will make the ghost of the past a little less unfriendly."
Take me to Gail's EFL Garden, please