In 1944 , in theoflagnear the German metropolis of Woldenberg ( now the pocket-sized township ofDobiegniew ) , in western Poland , M of Polish military officer were concur captive as captive of theNazi regime . In many way , life story there for the POWs , if still rough , was for sure much less so than in the compactness camps that pockmarked Europe . There were no flatulence chamber on the grounds of Oflag II - C. There were no crematoriums .
The prisoners of Oflag II - C — oflagis infer from the German countersign for an policeman ' prison cantonment — were largely treated within the rules of theGeneva Conventions . They took ( and taught ) classes in language , math and school of thought . They put on play . The pack have an orchestra . captive even had their own quasi - government .
And in 1944 , after the summerOlympic Gamesscheduled to be held in London were canceled because of the ongoing conflict in Europe and around the globe , the prisoners atWoldenbergwere permitted to put on their own Olympics under the unblinking regard of their Nazi captors .
POW Olympic Games
" Woldenberg was one of the most fair POW camp in Poland , " order Michał Puszkarski , the head of Education Department and advancement at theMuseum of Sports and Tourismin Warsaw , Poland . " We have a lot of examples of other camps that were not going by the Geneva Conventions . "
The 1944 " Olympics " at Woldenberg persist one of the most bizarre diachronic running light in the history of state of war , a jubilation ofperseverance and humanityamid the death and destruction ofWorld War II . The games also demonstrated , especially to the thousands imprisoned in Woldenberg and those who subsequently heard about them , the awesome healing power of sports .
Strangely , perhaps , the 1944 games at Woldenberg were not the only pseudo - Olympics — or even the first — held in a prisoner of war camp . In 1940 , the real Games were schedule for Tokyo and , as World War II heated up , rerouted to Helsinki , Finland . When they werecanceled altogether , captives from several countries in a German POW camp in Langwasser , Germany , hold a competition dub theInternational Prisoner - of - War Games .
The biz in Langwasser had to be held in secrecy because the penalties for running afoul of the Germans in charge of that camp — which was not for officers — were much spoiled than those inoflags . In Langwasser , prisoners from Belgium , France , Great Britain , Norway , Poland , Russia and Yugoslavia sneakily held an opening ceremony , complete with a flag sport Olympic ring drawn in wax crayon and forge from a Polish captive ’s shirt . A few recited a pledge that take the word , " in the name of all the sportsmen whose stadium are fenced with bristly telegram … "
The iris is about 11 by 18 in ( 29 by 46 centimeters ) and was later on smuggled out of the cantonment . It ’s now displayed in the Museum of Sports and Tourism in Warsaw .
The Woldenberg Games
After four more years of war , the prisoners at Woldenberg decided to put on their own games . They competed in several sports with the full noesis and cooperation of the Nazis , who may have had political motives in allow the games to be played .
" They were trying to make the feeling in the [ military officer ] that were in the prison camps that German line was nothing compare to Russian business , " says Puszkarski , pointing to thehorrendous offence committed in many Soviet ingroup both during and after the war . " It was known also that the Germans wanted to have better treatment after the state of war . "
The camp at Woldenberg , which at its height bear nigh 7,000 prisoner , included six buildings for lecture halls , at least two kitchens , quite a little halls , a theatre hall , a coffeehouse and a building for the Polish administrators of the pack . ( The Geneva Conventions allowed for the organization of self - governance among officer POW camps . ) The camp was , in consequence , a small metropolis .
Still , no one could mistake it for anything but what it really was . From theWoldenberg museum at Dobiegniewwebsite :
" The entire camp was surrounded by a double barbed wire fencing , 2 meters wide and 2.5 meters eminent . Around the refugee camp , there were 8 watchtowers with light and expectant motorcar gun , movable searchlight and telephony . "
In those condition , the games commence , under a fleur-de-lis made from a bedsheet and colored scarf .
Prisoners contend in many play in the Woldenberg games , including football ( soccer ) , handball , basketball , and what are known today as racetrack and field case . Several sports did not make the cut ; among them fencing , javelin , archery and the pole vault , the last of which Puszkarski says was nix because the Germans witness it as a possible means of outflow . Boxing had to be abandoned because underfed prisoner of war proved too fragile to oppose .
The POWs also competed in chess and in nonathletic event like sculpture , painting and other arts . Though that may sound bizarre in its own right , it did n’t in 1944 . FromSmithsonian magazine :
Decades later , the prisoner who organized the 1944 POW Olympics presented Woldenberg ’s " Olympian " fleur-de-lis to the museum in Warsaw . Another prisoner said of the flag , " It seemed to us , who were move out from the war game that was being waged for life and destruction that it would be good if somebody , somewhere — even in the prison house camp — remember this banner , which has always been a symbol of struggle , though never stain with rakehell . "
