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Historical Interpretation and the Continuity of Sports Administrators from Nazi to West Germany Tara Magdalinski Sunshine Coast University College

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Historical Interpretation and the Continuity of Sports Administrators from Nazi to West Germany Tara Magdalinski Sunshine Coast University College Sport History Reuim, 1996,27,1-13 O 1996 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. Historical Interpretation and the Continuity of Sports Administrators From Nazi to West Germany Tara Magdalinski Sunshine Coast University College On the 8th of May, 1945, the National Socialist dreams of a thousand- year reich were shattered as Germany unconditionally capitulated to the Allied forces. Less than one month later the Allies began the official occu- pation of Germany. All former laws were dissolved, and the nation was brought under the authority of the Allied Control Council. The Allies strove to replace existing social structures with organizations that denied all as- sociations with the former National Socialist regime (1).More importantly, there was a concerted effort to execute the three essential objectives of the Allied Control Council: the denazification, demilitarization, and democra- tization of all areas of German society, including sport. Denazification, how- ever, was initially the most important procedure. The revival of sport following the Second World War presented con- siderable problems for both Allies and sports enthusiasts eager to reestab- lish their organizations and clubs. The political significance of National Socialist sport greatly concerned the Allies. Physical educationalists in the Third Reich recognized sport as an ideal mechanism through which the purity of the Aryan race and, therefore, the nation, could be preserved. Physical education and sport also played a major role in the military prepa- ration of the youth. As a result, the Allies were reluctant to allow an unin- hibited renewal of the German sports system. Numerous directives from the Allied Control Council denazified German sport and attempted to rebuild it based on liberal democratic prin- ciples. These directives appeared as early as September 1945. The imrne- diacy with which these ordinances appeared highlights the importance the~lliesplaced on sport during the initial stages of occupancy and dem- onstrates the urgency the Allies felt in controlling sport and physical edu- cation. Control Directive 23, released on December 17,1945, aimed to dis- Tara Magdalinski is with Sunshine Coast University College, Locked Bag 4, Maroochydore South 4558, Queensland, Australia. 2 MAGDALINSKI solve and prohibit all military and paramilitary organizations and cease instruction in activities deemed military or paramilitary in nature within various public and private institutions, including sports clubs (2). In their place, the Allies demanded the development of a noncentralized and non- military sports program (3). In addition to the denazification of the sporting structures, the Allies recognized that the National Socialist philosophy of sport must also be eradi- cated. The most effective way to eliminate all National Socialist influences demanded the removal of those people who had been responsible for sport during the Third Reich. This was fulfilled by specific ordinances that prohib- ited former members of the Nazi Party from remaining in control of sport. According to Control Directive 24, issued on January 12,1946, all members of the National Socialist party who had been active and not just nominal mem- bers were removed from all public and semi-public offices (4). Despite the intentions of the Allies, Control Directive 24 only consid- ered the National Socialist party membership and not the actual political activities of the people. To circumvent this loophole, the Allies released Directive 38 on October 12, 1946, which classified German citizens into five categoriesbased upon their actual involvement in the National Social- ist Party. The subdivisions were important as they determined those people who were allowed to hold positions of authority within the German sport- ing movement. Officially, former members of all National Socialist organi- zations were forbidden from participating in sports meetings (5). Although these directives strictly prohibited former Nazis and their associates from returning to sports administration, several functionaries were able to return virtually unhindered to their positions after the Second World War. In an attempt to explain this situation, previous analyses have concentrated on the arbitrary concept of continuity and have thereby failed to adequately explain the process by which former Nazis were reinstated to their positions of power. The discussion of sports administrators, for the main part, has remained largely superficial and simplistic. This paper ex- amines one explanation of why functionaries were able to continue in their administrative positions despite the myriad of laws and ordinances en- acted to prevent such a situation arising. Three of the most prominent sports administrators to continue in their positions from Nazi Germany to West Germany were Carl Diem, Guido von Mengden, and Karl Ritter von Halt. Each of these officials occupied positions of power within the Nazi sports administration. Diem was the secretary general of the organizing committee for the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Although he did not join the Nazi Party, he organized the Olym- pics as an effective Nazi propaganda event. Following the war, Diem re- mained within the upper echelons of German sport. He became a member of Germany's National Olympic Committee and was a consultant to the minister of the interior. ears engden .
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