Hitler's Olympic Village of 1936

It was home to Jesse Owens when he faced the Nazis at Berlin 1936, before it became a torture base for the KGB

Athletes from all over the world headed 76 years ago to take part in the most infamous Olympic Games in history - the so-called 'Nazi Games' (pictured Adolf Hitler greeting them)

A bas-relief of marching Nazi troops, a Red Army mural – and a cellar where the anguished cries of condemned torture victims once rang out in the night.
If walls could speak, those within the Olympic Village of 1936 would have a host of dark tales to tell.
This is where athletes from all over the world headed 76 years ago to take part in the most infamous Olympic Games in history – the so-called ‘Nazi Games’.
The 1936 Olympic Village, on the western edge of Berlin, lies forlorn and forgotten.
‘It is a shame,’ says Sven Voege, who’s currently in negotiations to rent out some of the village sites as exhibition rooms.

The gym, with the Olympic rings and a vaulting horse used by German triple gold medallist Alfred Schwarzmann. Located on the western edge of Berlin, it lies forlorn and forgotten

‘But because it is inextricably bound up with Nazism, most Germans avoid it. It is a place that lives and breathes sportsmanship and history, side by side.
'But German history is something we shun because of our past.’
Around 4,000 athletes – including Great Britain’s 208-strong squad – took part in the Games in the summer of 1936.
Adolf Hitler looked on with delight as his German ‘supermen’ lived up to his dreams of glory, winning the Games with a medal count of nearly 90; Great Britain came tenth with just 14.
The only real slap in the face for the Führer was the success of America’s black track-and-field athlete Jesse Owens.

He won four gold medals and was the star of the Games in the world’s eyes – even if Hitler regarded him as inferior because of his colour.

The swimming pool, viewed from the diving board. Hopes of refurbishing the building, which served in WWII as a hospital for wounded German troops, have fallen through

Ironically, Owens’s tiny room – No 5, in block 39 – is the only athlete’s room that has been renovated.
It’s a simple space that reflects the modesty of the humble man who stayed there – a man who, paradoxically, enjoyed more freedom in Nazi Germany at that time that he did in his segregated U.S. homeland.
A short walk from Owens’s quarters lies the ‘Restaurant of the Nations’, the eating hall for the athletes.
The record books tell how in three weeks the participants consumed 100 cows, 91 pigs, over 650 lambs, 8,000lb of coffee, 150,000lb of vegetables and 160,000 pints of milk.

A bas-relief of marching German soldiers, which still stands near the theatre where athletes went to watch variety shows, hinted at Hitler's future military ambitions

‘The Führer was teetotal and the order for the athletes was no drinking,’ says Voege.
‘But the French and the Italians railed against the idea of no wine, while the Belgians and Dutch thought the prospect of no beer was too much to contemplate.
'All four nations were the exception and were served alcohol at every meal.’

Only the salon where the Italians dined alongside the Soviets is preserved. The room where the British ate is a shell filled with fallen masonry.
Hopes of refurbishing the building, which served in WWII as a hospital for wounded German troops, have fallen through.
In 1936 a huge steel-and-wood sign depicting the five Olympic rings stood on top of the Restaurant of the Nations.

The fencers practise in the Olympic Village. During their stay, there were constant reminders of the Nazi regime's less savoury side. Athletes were surrounded by officials in Nazi uniforms

That’s now propped up against a back wall, forgotten, in the off-limits gymnasium.
Outside the hall is the 400m loop, which is just as it was when Godfrey Brown, Godfrey Rampling, Freddie Wolff and Bill Roberts pounded it in practice before going on to win gold for the UK in the 4x400m relay race.
‘Children were allowed into the village, and the English runners were firm favourites with them because of their impeccable manners,’ says Voege.

Jesse Owens won four gold medals and was the star of the Games in the world's eye

‘They always stopped to say hello to the children and sign autographs.’
During their stay, there were constant reminders of the Nazi regime’s less savoury side.
Athletes were surrounded by officials in Nazi uniforms.
And a bas-relief of marching German soldiers, which still stands near the theatre where athletes went to watch variety shows, hinted at Hitler’s future military ambitions.
After the war ended in 1945, the Olympic Village was occupied for nearly 50 years by the Soviet Army.

Among the new tenants were the torturers of SMERSH and the KGB, interrogators who turned the subterranean rooms housing the swimming pool’s heating system into a theatre of pain and death.
The cremated remains of victims lie strewn over the site.
Meanwhile, mocking Hitler’s dreams of a ‘thousand-year Reich’, a painting was added of heroic Red Army soldiers doing battle with the Nazis in the ‘Great Patriotic War’, which claimed the lives of over 25 million Soviets.

Since the fall of communism, the Olympic Village has lain largely undisturbed, any hopes of restoring it scuppered by its Nazi past.
Hopefully a far happier future awaits the site of the London 2012 Olympics after the athletes have returned home.

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In The Spotlight.. Netherlands women

In the Spotlight' is a series that will profile each of the 24 participating teams at the London Olympic Games. It will provide a glimpse of what to expect as each squad begins its London quest. Between now and the Olympic opening ceremony a new team will be featured every 2-3 days. Today, we feature the Dutch women's national team.
 
The Basics:
The Netherlands Women are currently ranked 1st in the FIH World Ranking with 2063 points, just 33 points ahead of nearest rivals Argentina. The Dutch have played in the last seven Olympic Games, only missing the 1980 Games due to the boycott in Moscow. From those seven events, two gold, one silver and three bronze medals have accrued with 1992’s sixth place their worst performance, and they go to London as reigning champions. In 2010, they were World Cup runners-up to Argentina in Rosario but won the 2011 Champions Trophy on home soil and the EuroHockey Championship in Mönchengladbach. February saw their recent run stalled with bronze in Rosario’s 2012 Champions Trophy.

The Road to London:
As European Champions, the Netherlands claimed one of the two automatic slots from the continental competition to London along with final runners-up, Germany.

Players to Watch:
At just 27, Dutch skipper Maartje Paumen’s is already among one of the legends of the game. A powerful presence in the centre of the back or pushing on into midfield, she has the ability to spray passes to the flanks, and the reach to pick off big tackles. It is her corner ability, though, which she is most famed for as one of the most fearsome – along with South Africa’s Pietee Coetzee – penalty corner exponents. She was named the 2011 FIH Player of the Year, is the top scorer in Champions Trophy history and scored in every single game of the Netherlands’ 2010 World Cup campaign. Naomi van As adds a graceful figure to midfield while Lidewij Welten is a key threat from play in and around opposition goalkeeper’s pads.

Coach:
Max Caldas, a former Argentine international but long-time Dutch resident, took over the head coach’s role in November 2010 having been the assistant coach in 2006 when the Netherlands won the World Cup and the Beijing Olympics. Since taking on the role, the Dutch have won the European Championship and the 2011 Champions Trophy on home soil before coming third in Rosario earlier this year. Caldas started his coaching career in earnest after injury put paid to his playing days, the highlight of which included a Pan-American gold and Champions Trophy bronze. He had been in Holland for four seasons with Klein Zwitserland and stayed in the country to pursue coaching, attaining success with Leiden and Amsterdam’s ladies first team before taking on the Bloemendaal men’s team.

Strengths:
Defensively, the spine of the team, with Willemijn Bos and Maartje Paumen central, is an immaculate one as they managed to win the European title conceding just twice in five games. In doing so, they kept the world number three and four sides Germany and England blank in the knockout phases. Their penalty corners are one of the most lethal in the women’s game while their ability to create space down either flank creates plenty of chances.

Weaknesses:
Since the 2010 World Cup, enforcers like Janneke Schopman and Minke Smeets have retired, leaving a big amount of leadership responsibility to fill for their fresh-faced panel. Argentina are their recent Achilles heel, ending their title hopes at the last two major events as the trickery of Luciana Aymar and Carla Rebecchi has been their undoing - something they will need to pin down should the sides meet. Caldas pin-pointed Great Britain as favourites for gold in the wake of the Investec London Cup and so they need to be extra wary of the hosts in the group phase.

Crystal Ball:
The to and fro between the Netherlands and Argentina in recent times leaves them as the two fancied sides for overall glory. For Max Caldas’ side, the group phase looks the friendlier of the two, though Great Britain on home turf will be a more than tricky final pool game should any points be dropped en route. Their corner prowess and mean defence should see them have the tools to progress to the latter phases.