TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Athletes from the Israeli team arrive for the opening ceremony of the 14th European Maccabi Games in Berlin yesterday. More than 2,500 Jewish competitors from 36 nations will take part in sporting events at the Olympic Stadium – where in 1936 Adolf Hitler sought to stop Jews from competing in the games.
BERLIN (Reuters) – Approximately 2,300 Jewish athletes from 36 countries – including 120 from Israel – got together on Monday night in Berlin on the eve of the 14th edition of the European Maccabi Games, cheered on by fans bused in from across the country by the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
The games, which are billed by organizers as “Europe’s biggest Jewish sports event”, will see sportsmen and sportswomen from 36 countries compete against each other in 19 disciplines ranging from waterpolo to basketball and even chess and bridge. The sports venues – many of which were built by the Nazis, including Berlin’s Olympiastadion –will be open to all, free of charge and under heavy security.
Countries from outside of Europe including the United States, Canada, South Africa and Mexico are also taking part in the event which are held every four years, the first being in Prague in 1929. They are held two years apart from the Maccabiah, the World Jewish Games, which takes place in Israel.
It is the first time in history that the Games have been held in Germany and is made even more significant this year, 70 years after the end of WWII, because the event is being held in Berlin’s Olympic Park, where in 1936 – under the grip of Adolf Hitler – Jewish athletes were excluded from the Olympic Games.
On Monday, the so-called “Welcome Evening” took place at a central Berlin hotel, giving the athletes a chance to come together and meet one another before the competition.
The event’s organizers say this year the athletes will “send a message for tolerance and openness against anti-Semitism and racism.”
“It is a great opportunity to show the world that it is possible to live a Jewish life in Germany because for many people it is unimaginable to live in Germany as a Jew. I am often asked how I can live as a Jew in Germany after the Holocaust. It is possible and we want to show that Jews can live here and with this event we want to show that it is definitely possible,” said Ruben Gerchikov, a member of the German soccer team.
“It is important for us to do it, and play here, it’s an honor for me,” said Ido Cohen from Israel.
“I think it’s a great feeling to have a bunch of Jews together from all around the world, the biggest amount of Jews in Germany since the Holocaust. I think it is a great thing. It’s such an awesome feeling to be here,” said Arielle Schneider from the US women’s soccer team.
“It shows the resilience and strength of the Jewish people are really the revival of the Jews since the Holocaust, post WWII, through the Cold War, especially with the Jews from Russia who are here after the Soviet Union and everything. It’s going to be a great moment,” added her teammate Becca Lewis.
“It’s obviously a great experience for me coming from another country as well. I’m representing Germany even though I’m born and raised in Canada. It means so much to me to really be a part of the evolution of not only Germany but the Jewish people in general,” said Jacob Fraenkel, also a soccer player.
Speaking at the welcome event, the president of Maccabi Germany said the decision to hold the games in his country had been a difficult one, but that the organizers had used the occasion to send a message to the world.
“Today Jewish life in Germany is reviving. We have over 120,000 members in 108 Jewish communities. Berlin is the biggest Jewish community and you will have all the options to explore it this week. You will see throughout the next ten days that Jews in Germany are not only safe but also proud of our long-standing Jewish traditions,” said Alon Meyer.
The formal opening ceremony was held at an amphitheater on Tuesday night, with German President Joachim Gauck – who is also patron of the Games – addressing the crowd.