Today’s blog is a redo of the one I wrote more than five years ago (same title). It was back in the days when I limited my blogs to six hundred words and very few images. The topic was very popular, and I received many friendly comments. So, I decided to “reprint” it albeit in an expanded version with more images. The story is very uplifting, and I hope you enjoy reading it.
I wrote the original blog shortly after reading a BBC article about the death of Sir Nicholas Winton. It was one of the few positive stories surrounded by the horrors of Hitler and the Third Reich. As you will see, the children that Winton and others saved were a mere fraction of those murdered by the Nazis during the twelve years of the Third Reich.
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Memorial of Nicholas Winton, savior of 669 Jewish children, located in the Prague Main railway station. Photo by Ludêk Kovár. Sculpture by Flor Kent (September 2009). PD-GNU Free Documentation License. Wikimedia Commons.
Many of us are familiar with the story of Jesse Owens (1913-1980) winning four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin. Adolph Hitler was in the stands and watched Jesse and his teammates beat out German athletes in various track and field events. After watching African Americans step up to the victor’s stand on day one, Hitler refused to shake hands with anyone other than a German. Told it was all or nothing ⏤ he had to either shake everyone’s hand or no one ⏤ Hitler chose the latter. So, every day before the award ceremonies began, Hitler left the stadium. Watch the video clip “Jesse Owens at the Berlin Olympics” in 1936 here.
Luz Long, German athlete saluting Hitler (right), on the winners stand at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Jesse Owens (left) on the podium after winning the gold medal. Photo by anonymous (c. August 1936). Bundesarchiv Bild 183-G00630, Sommerolympiade, Siegerehrung Weitsprung. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.
This is only one of many stories which took place in the latter part of the 1930s when German athletes competed against African Americans in sports such as boxing (Schmeling vs. Louis) and track and field (Owens and others). It was a time when German nationalism was on the rise and Hitler was promoting his master-race theories.
It wasn’t only African American athletes who were embarrassing Hitler and his regime. In the late 1930s, motorsports took on the Führer and won. Two Formula One (F1) race car drivers, a Jewish Frenchman and an American woman, financed, built, and raced cars to compete with the Nazis’ Mercedes-Benz team and they beat Hitler at his own game. Read More Outpacing Hitler and the Nazis
Mr. Ross brings the streets of Paris to life, making it possible for you to stand on the very spots where the grand and tragic events of the French Revolution took place. If you are looking for more than just the typical tourist experience in Paris, then this book is must reading!
Dan Carpenter | Historian & Author
“Stew blends the dark history of buildings in Paris that are associated with the infamous deeds of the Gestapo with contrasting insights into the bravery of the French people, who, at great risk to themselves and their families, secretly resisted the German Occupation.”
Stanley Booker, MBE, RAF (Ret.), Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur
