Jewish sport in Nazi Germany

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The Jewish sports in Nazi Germany went through in the years of oppression, terror and social isolation of 1933-1938 its ups and downs. Despite all the adverse conditions that the Jewish athletes had to train and deal with, there was a period of prosperity between 1933 and 1936. The clubs of the two large associations Makkabi Germany and the Sportbund Schild of the Reichsbund of Jewish Front Soldiers had an enormous influx of new members. With the November pogroms , organized sport ended cruelly for all Jewish institutions in Germany.

National Socialist Jewish Policy

The NSDAP made clear even before the seizure of power in 1933 their anti-Semitic views and tolerate only "Aryans" in society. The National Socialists only saw the good qualities in the “race” of their people and the Jews , who were called the counter-race, were called “subhumans”. This was reason enough for the boycott, terrorization and the subsequent exclusion of Jews from the equal gymnastics and sports associations. The law to restore the civil service of 7 April 1933 excluded Jewish civil servants from the public service. The World War fighters and their relatives were initially exempt from this through the " front fighter privilege ". With the entry into force of the editors' law on January 1, 1934 and the rise of Hitler to the position of Reich President , the phase of " Aryanization " or "de-Jewification" of the intellectual professions began. The Nuremberg Laws , passed on September 15, 1935, ushered in another phase of discrimination against the Jewish population. From now on, the Jews were only allowed to be citizens of the German Reich without political rights. The emigration of Jews was to be promoted with the Blood Protection Act and the Reich Citizenship Act , but this did not diminish the anti-Semitic acts of terrorism. These measures drove the Jews into social isolation.

The November pogroms of 1938 are seen as the official signal for the greatest genocide in human history. In the destruction organized by Goebbels , the Jews were deprived of any economic livelihood. The attack on November 7th on the legation councilor of the German embassy in Paris by the seventeen-year-old Polish Jew Herschel Grynszpan served the National Socialists as a pretext to set synagogues and Jewish shops on fire. The Jews were forced to leave schools and colleges and organize themselves in forced associations.

Exclusion from the gymnastics and sports associations

Before 1933, Jews who were active in sports were mainly organized in ideologically neutral sports clubs. But even before 1933, sports clubs showed isolated anti-Semitic tendencies, such as the German Sports Club Berlin or clubs of the anti-Semitic German Gymnastics Federation (not to be confused with the German Gymnastics Association ). Until the National Socialists came to power, Jewish members were usually fully integrated in their associations. Several Jewish lecturers were employed at the German University for Physical Education . The German Reich Committee for Physical Activity also provided a “ half-Jew ” as president without any objection. Sport also served the Jews as a medium of social integration and was the most effective of all branches of culture in which the principle of equality was applied. The leadership of the German Reich Committee for Physical Exercise - the umbrella association of gymnastics and sports organizations - confessed to the new rulers in spring 1933 and dissolved themselves in May 1933, contrary to the statutes. Hans von Tschammer und Osten was appointed State Sports Commissioner in April and appointed Reich Sports Leader in July . Measures against Jewish members of the association were not specified by von Tschammer, however, with consideration for foreign countries because of the 1936 Olympic Games which were awarded to Berlin. The aryanization of the equal federations and clubs was done on their own initiative and without state instructions. Following the example of the law to restore the civil service, numerous associations and clubs implemented the exclusion of their Jewish members.

Co-ordination of the associations

Without a state order, but not surprisingly, the expulsion of all Jewish club members by the German Swimming Association took place in April 1933, as this was ideologically influenced by the long-standing chairman Hans Geisow .

The German Reich Association for Amateur Boxing also decided at the beginning of April to "loyal followers", after prior agreement between its chairman E. Rüdiger and the Berlin police headquarters. The reason was Hitler's sympathy for boxing, which is why it should also be included in school sports. An amendment was made to the statutes, according to which members were "only of Aryan descent". The association “German pugilists” (professional boxers) also decided in a “10-point program” to remove all Jews from the list of members, including those who were baptized. Honorary Jewish members had to forego their awards. Employment contracts with Jewish managers became invalid and the use of a Jewish doctor or lawyer was likewise prohibited.

Analogous to the procedure of the amateur boxing association, the Association of Brandenburg Athletic Associations (VBAV) reported to the police president without compulsion to report on the exclusion of Jewish members. In addition, at the same time two corporately affiliated Jewish associations were advised to leave. These included Bar Kochba Berlin on the one hand and the Jewish Gymnastics and Sport Club 1905 on the other. SC Bar Kochba Berlin refused to comply with this recommendation to leave. In connection with the Berlin campaign, the Southeast German Football and Athletics Association excluded all Jewish clubs from within its area (Bar Kochba, Hakaoh, Schild).

From May 1933, only athletes of "Aryan" descent were accepted into the German Rowing Association. However, the exemption of the law on civil service was allowed to apply to the previous members. The German Ski Association demanded from its regional associations "to refuse entry to non-racers and to remove them from the boards". The general compliance with the request is uncertain, since the Mainz Ski Club only parted ways with its “half-Jewish” President Theodor Lewaldzu in December . The German Chess League was subordinated to the Reich Propaganda Minister and all members with a Jewish grandparent were declared intolerable. The DLRG also split from its Jewish members.

In April 1933, the German Tennis Association decided to exclude "non-Aryans" from representative games and thus no longer nominate the then top player Daniel Prenn for the Davis Cup team, which caused a worldwide sensation. English champions like Fred Perry and Henry Austin publicly objected. King Gustav V Adolf of Sweden had the courage to demonstrate on the occasion of a visit to Berlin to play a game against Prenn.

German gymnastics club

Above all, Edmund Neuendorf, as the leader of the German Gymnastics Association (DT), implemented the Aryan paragraph with conviction. With his strict anti-Jewish policy he wanted to win the favor of the Reich Chancellor and in several letters asked him to patronize the 15th German Gymnastics Festival. With a view to the Stuttgart Gymnastics Festival in 1933 and after an application by the Saxon gymnasts, the German Gymnastics Association dismissed all Jewish and Marxist members. This should remove any obstacles to push through the "ideological adjustment" of the DT. In addition, the Reich Chancellor was to be assured of the will of the DT to take part in the “national construction”, to strive for military strength and to admit to the “Jahnian idea”. At the beginning of April, the DT decided to “full Aryanization”, whereby the affiliated associations had to exclude members with only one grandparent of Jewish descent. This went beyond the provisions of the Nuremberg Race Laws passed in 1935.

Reshaping Jewish Life

When the NSDAP came to power, the political opposition was broken up. The focus here was not primarily on the Jews. They were not persecuted because of their "race", but because of their quality as former socialists or as members of the Reich Banner Black-Red-Gold or the Republican civil service or as members of the Peace League or as communists. The Reichstag election of March 5, 1933 did not have the desired effect that many Jews and non-Jews wanted, but led to the Enabling Act and, on its basis, to a planned boycott campaign against Jewish businesses.

In order to demonstrate unity and unity and to be able to defend oneself against the nationalist overwhelming power that hit many individual Jewish associations, the Reich Representation of German Jews was brought into being, which, according to Kurt Jacob Ball-Kaduri : "[...] in reality one The founding of the great Jewish political association, which had thereby defied the Berlin community and the incompetent Prussian regional association of Jewish communities ”. Despite many obstacles, the successful founding went back to the initiative of a three-man college in Essen, which was led by the first rabbi of the Berlin community, Leo Baeck . But without the nationalist oppression and social and economic isolation of Jewish athletes, clubs and associations, which Fred Grubbel illustrated in 1986 in a symbol: "[...] in the same boat, in increasingly stormy raging seas", it would have the union of all Jews were not given, as two different political organizations predominated: on the one hand the “Zionist Association of Germany”, on the other hand the Reichsbund of Jewish Front Soldiers.

Reich Association of Jewish Frontline Soldiers

The federal leadership of the Frontbund decided to remain on German soil. The decision was made based on the crucial question: "How do you feel about Germany". At the same time, this meant a complete separation from those who decided to emigrate. In addition, a process of adaptation to the new social order followed. This threw off the political neutrality that the RjF represented until the NSDAP came to power and established the implementation of the “Führer principle”. From April 1933, repeated requests by the RjF to the government for preferential care of its relatives followed. In return, Hitler was able to fall back on the help of the RjF, which included participation in the “national reconstruction” of Germany, be it for the peaceful construction of the Reich or for its external defense. The exceptions are not due to the recognition of Hitler, but to Hindenburg's intervention with Hitler. During the Weimar period, the RjF still had friendly relations with the Zionist Association. But after the RjF had been guaranteed legal privileges, it was strictly separated from the Zionist Association and any solidarity with the other German Jews was also canceled. From 1932, the sporting activity of the RjF concentrated on military sports, which Löwenstein reported to the Reich Sports Leader on April 4, 1933. With the expansion to the “Sportbund”, the number of club foundations also multiplied in the small communities. The sports federation saw itself confirmed in their assumption that their focus was mainly on the sporting and not the ideological area, due to the large growth in their sports activities such as fighting games, athletics and water sports, etc. Administrative measures on the part of the Reich sports leadership restricted the sporting activity however a. After a consultation with the Reichssportführer, the practice was resumed, but was not allowed to be put on public display. In 1934, despite all the obstacles, championships in football, boxing and tennis were held. In 1935 these even expanded. In the same year Paul Yogi Mayer became youth department head of the RjF and head of the sports department Schild .

Since Jews were also excluded from taking off the Reich Sports Badge, the RjF Sports Association created its own badge. In 1936 the sport stagnated as expectations of the Olympic Games were dashed. The popular sport became all the more important and the comparison competitions with the rival Maccabi increased.

In 1937, due to emigration, the decline in membership was offset by the growth in youth. In the last year of its existence, the RjF sport was at its peak, and the November pogroms and subsequent bans could not stop the vitality of Jewish sport either.

Zionist Association for Germany

After the NSDAP came to power, the Zionist Association, in contrast to the Reich Association of Jewish Front Soldiers, took the same view as before: Promotion of the Zionist idea among German Jews and their preparation for a new life in Palestine.

The Zionist Association for Germany turned to Hitler with a formal letter in which they welcomed the “national rebirth of Germany” through National Socialism and its basic ideas on descent, religion, community of fate and species awareness. Zionism also internalized this fundamental conception.

For the time of the emigration of German Jews, the ZVfD applied to the government to grant them the status of a protected minority. Between 1933 and 1940 the desired support was guaranteed by various state and government agencies. But here, too, the form of assistance must not be misinterpreted, since the Nazi regime advocated the emigration of German Jews for reasons of race policy. In addition, Hitler still pursued the same goals and represented the idea of ​​Jews unchanged since 1920: "He should seek human rights where he belongs, in ... Palestine".

The different political views of the two Jewish organizations did not care much for the Nazi regime, since they were analog 100% opponents of National Socialism, which the RjF also noticed in 1935 with the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws, as this meant every Jewish assimilation and emancipation of the last for a century and a half.

The Makkabi clubs were "almost completely integrated into German sport" until 1933. Since their sports business was mainly organized in regional German associations, competitive sports collapsed with the exclusion. Then you created your own league system in order to be able to carry out the championships again. Although the Makkabi group was denied any access to public sports facilities, a balance sheet was drawn up at the end of the year: "There has probably never been such a large number of Jewish sports festivals in Germany as this year". In 1934 the Maccabi sport experienced an upswing due to the large influx of new members and the start-ups. Especially in rowing there was a big increase in new Maccabi clubs (25-> 79) and members (8000-> 18000). Due to the hindrances of the SA and Gestapo and the poor conditions to achieve an Olympic qualification, the interest was set in the comparison competitions with the rival RjF-Sportbund. After the Olympic dreams did not come true, performance in competitive sports fell sharply. In 1937, the decrease in membership was offset by the influx of young people, so that league operations could continue as normal.

Jewish sports youth

Due to the increasing threat to and fight against German Jewry, the Jewish sports movement increasingly turned to youth sports, which were tied to the Jewish youth organizations, which in turn had their 'origins in the German youth movement'. In line with the dawn of the Jewish gymnastics community, the Jewish youth movement was inspired by the idea of ​​campaigning for “old Jewish greatness, for the renewal of creative powers, for a 'renaissance'”. She wanted to escape the typical Jewish "danger of intellectualism" and to turn to the values ​​of "simplicity" and "immediacy". The isolation from the German youth movement, which began in 1933, had serious consequences. The forced “process of segregation” tore away their “natural educational basis”. Furthermore, the National Socialist exception laws had negative effects on career choices. Leisure time activities were also closely monitored and the young people were very limited as a result. For the reasons mentioned above and because of the constant emigration and the associated negative selection, youth work received even more attention than before.

Jewish youth leagues

The Jewish youth leagues were initially not banned after the Nazi seizure of power. On November 2, 1933, a decree of the Reich Youth Leadership followed , stating that in future the “Reich Committee of Jewish Youth Associations” had to act as the “sole responsible central organization of Jewish youth associations”. From now on he was the contact person and was responsible for the leisure activities of the Jewish youth associations vis-à-vis the German authorities. For example, camps had to be communicated to and approved by the “Reich Committee”. The goal of absolute control of the youth leagues was thus pursued. In addition, there was the separation of the Jewish youth from the rest of society. The leisure offer was nevertheless accepted because it represented a pleasant change from the increasingly hostile everyday life at school and at work. Within a few years, the membership grew from 26,000 in 1932 to around 50,000 in 1935, as the youth associations embodied a protected environment.

Literature and Sources

  • Hajo Bernett: Sports Policy in the Third Reich. From the files of the Reich Chancellery. (= Contributions to teaching and research in physical education, 39) Verlag Karl Hoffmann, Schorndorf 1971 OCLC 544571
  • Hajo Bernett: The Jewish Sport in National Socialist Germany 1933–1938. (= Series of publications by the Federal Institute for Sports Science, 18) Karl Hofmann, Schorndorf 1978, ISBN 3-7780-3081-7 .
  • Hajo Bernett: The way of sport in the National Socialist dictatorship. The emergence of the German (National Socialist) Reichsbund for physical exercises. (= Contributions to teaching and research in sport, 87) Karl Hofmann, Schorndorf 1983, ISBN 3-7780-4871-6 .
  • Hans Joachim Teichler: The Jewish Sports Movement in National Socialist Germany. In: Berno Bahro, Jutta Braun, Hans Joachim Teichler (eds.): Forgotten Records - Jewish athletes before and after 1933. Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86650-038-9 , p. 109– 123.
  • Henry Wahlig : Offside sports. The history of the Jewish sports movement in National Socialist Germany . Wallstein, Göttingen 2015, ISBN 978-3-8353-1651-5 .
  • Moshe Zimmermann: Sport. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 5: Pr-Sy. Metzler, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-476-02505-0 , pp. 543-555.
  • Lorenz Peiffer, Arthur Heinrich (ed.): Jews in sport in the Weimar Republic and under National Socialism. A historical handbook for North Rhine-Westphalia. Wallstein, Göttingen 2019.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bernett: The Jewish Sport in National Socialist Germany 1933–1938. 1978, pp. 12-16.
  2. ^ November pogrom . Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ Arnd Krüger : When the Olympics are over, we will beat the Jews to a pulp. The relationship of the Jews to the Olympic Games of 1936. In: Menora 5th year book for German-Jewish history. Piper, Munich 1994, pp. 331-348.
  4. ^ Bernett: The Jewish Sport in National Socialist Germany 1933–1938. 1978, pp. 16-23.
  5. ^ Bernett: The Jewish Sport in National Socialist Germany 1933–1938. 1978, pp. 23-25.
  6. ↑ a b c Jewish sport in National Socialist Germany . Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  7. ↑ Lothar Bembenek: Werner T. Angress, Paul Yogi Mayer and Guy Stern, in: Barbara Stambolis (ed.): Jugendbewegt coined, V&R UniPress, Göttingen, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8471-0004-1 , p. 69– 88
  8. ^ Bernett: The Jewish Sport in National Socialist Germany 1933–1938. 1978, pp. 61-62.
  9. ^ Bernett: The Jewish Sport in National Socialist Germany 1933–1938. 1978, pp. 44-45.
  10. ^ Bernett: The Jewish Sport in National Socialist Germany 1933–1938. 1978, pp. 69-70.
  11. ^ Jewish youth.Retrieved March 28, 2014.