The secret stories of Olympia
The Olympic flame was first lit in Amsterdam in 1928. This world-‐famous symbol was not an ancient Greek invention, it was Dutch. The only thing missing was a torch relay, which was invented by the Germans in 1936.
I wrote three articles about the history of this famous symbol: 1. About Constantin Kondylis, the first man ever holding the torch 2. About the fightings in Vienna during the first torch relay in history 3. About the fightings in Olympia in 1948 when the Olympic fire was lit As a sports historian I am specialized in the political history of the Olympic Games. I wrote these articles for the Dutch website www.Sportgeschiedenis.nl My articles and activities on social media: -‐ www.sportgeschiedenis.nl -‐ www.olympischstadion.nl -‐ www.geschiedenis24.nl -‐ https://twitter.com/jRRT/ -‐ https://twitter.com/_geschiedenis -‐ https://twitter.com/olympisch -‐ https://twitter.com/anderetijdens Jurryt van de Vooren Amsterdam July 20, 2013
The secret story of Olympia
Constantin Kondylis carried the first Olympic torch in history. It would later save his life, as I discovered during my visit to Olympia in 2004. The Greek Olympia is world-‐famous because of the Olympic Games, which were organised by the ancient Greeks. Every two years, in the run-‐up to the Summer-‐ and Winter Games, the Olympic flame is lit in Olympia. It is one of the most famous symbols in the world and fascinates everyone involved. In the village of Olympia this fascination has now faded. Many of its men have been selected for the torch relay, for up until 1984 it was customary for local boys to carry the torch to the municipal boundary and hand it over to someone from the outside world. However, as the flame was on its way to Los Angeles that year a serious disagreement arose between the Greeks and the IOC (International Olympic Committee). The Americans sold the rights to carry the torch at enormous prices, an act the Greeks considered an insult to their cultural heritage. The mayor of Olympia threatened to ban the lighting of the torch so the IOC took charge and saved the ceremony. The boys of the village lost the privilege of carrying the torch. Constantin Kondylis In 1936 the Olympic torch relay was organised for the very first time. The honour of becoming the first torch bearer in history was bestowed upon a man named Constantin Kondylis. A striking, clean cut figure and sports fanatic, whose fluency in German, Turkish, Italian and of course Greek, made him the ideal choice. His image was also perfect for the propaganda of Hitler and national socialists. There to witness the event was Constantin’s younger brother Angelis. I met him on my visit in 2004. He was 80 years old then and lived with his wife two villages down from Olympia, within the same municipal. Constantin had passed away several years earlier. The only tangible reminder Angelis had of his brother was a match box, about two inches wide, with an image of Constantin carrying the torch. Back then, right after the Olympic flame was lit, millions of these boxes were put into circulation. There was something odd about the image on the box. Kondylis was wearing a loincloth and he was slightly more blonde than in real life. Also, he was carrying the torch in his right instead of left. So there was a clear difference between the ‘Kondylis with torch’ image on the original picture and the one on the matchbox. On the matchbox he looked far more Aryan. Apparently, German propaganda went so far that even on a small matchbox the first Olympic torch bearer had to look like a good Aryan. Execution While Angelis was taking a closer look at his Aryan brother, he said: “After the torch relay my brother went to Athens to study law. After that he went to Turkey and Italy. He also worked for the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Tourism”. That was how Constantin developed and used his language skills, which would come to save his life during the war. Angelis recounted how Constantin was captured by the Germans during the war. He was to be executed. As he was facing the firing squad he stepped forward and spoke in fluent German: “Don’t you know who I am? My name is Constantin Kondylis. In 1936, in Olympia, I was the first Olympic torch bearer.”
The soldiers hesitated and dropped their rifles. They knew about that torch relay, which was an enormous propaganda stunt back in 1936 and carried the Olympic flame to Berlin and on to the Olympic Stadium. It was the first Olympic flame relay in history and it was heavily exploited by the Nazis. The first man in this historic relay had to be someone special – even if he was one minute away from being executed. The soldiers took him away for further investigation. This investigation showed that in 1936 Kondylis indeed was the first Olympic torch bearer. The Germans gave him an official document stating that from this day on he was to be left in peace. Kondylis’ life was saved purely and simply because he was the first person in history to carry an Olympic torch.
A Dutch radio documentary about Olympia, Constantin Kondylis and his brother: http://www.geschiedenis24.nl/ovt/afleveringen/2004/Ovt-‐27-‐06-‐ 2004/Het-‐Spoor-‐terug-‐Het-‐Olympisch-‐Kroonjuweel-‐een-‐radioverhaal-‐over-‐ het-‐Olympisch-‐Vuur.html
Serious incidents during the 1936 torch relay The Olympic torch relay is a symbol for peace and unity. During the first ever relay in 1936 this illusion was cruelly disrupted by serious political incidents between fascists and anti-‐fascists. ‘A quite serious message from Vienna’ announced the Dutch newspaper De Leidsche Courant on 30 July 1936. ‘Here Austrian national socialists have upset festivities organised for the ceremonial welcome of the Olympic flame to the Austrian capital.’ Protesters shouted ‘Heil Hitler’ in the hope of spreading this message loudly through to the radio reporters present. To prevent this from happening the live broadcast was immediately cancelled. In other parts of the city acts of vandalism occurred, especially in Vienna’s Jewish district. It looked like a coordinated anti-‐Semitic ploy, a deliberate German provocation in Austria’s capital. Hundreds of protestors were arrested. Among them were some Germans, which aroused suspicion that Berlin was working on some hidden agenda. For years national socialists had been fighting for the idea of a Greater Germany in which Austria and Germany would come together. The Olympic flame incident hit Vienna like a bombshell. This could have threatened political stability. The Austrian government called an emergency meeting and issued a firm declaration. ‘Austria is not to be fooled with’. The national socialist media in Germany responded firmly too. They saw the incidents as Jewish-‐Marxist provocation. Their journalists pointed out that the protesters’ appearance had been ‘quite Jewish’ The furore during the torch relay rapidly increased the political tension between Germany and Austria. All this happened right before the start of the Olympics. An Olympics that had to be a triumph for the Germans. Eventually, the 200 protesters that had been arrested were sentenced to between one week and two months imprisonment. Two years after the torch relay Austria did indeed join Nazi Germany.
The torch relay raised protests in other countries too. On 31 July 1936 Dutch newspaper Het Vaderland reported on the relay arriving in Czechoslovakia. ‘Yesterday afternoon the Olympic flame crossed the intersection on the road to Sezimovo Usti, between Soběslav and Tabor. A delegation of Czech Sokols was there to watch, as well as a large number of school children and their teachers. Shortly before the arrival of the torch bearer Dr. Benesj, the Czech president, arrived accompanied by his wife and several high ranking officers, among them the chief of the Stringl protocol.’ “I wish”, Benesj said “that the entire Czechoslovakian population would participate in this parade. I wish the torch relay all the best on its way from Czechoslovakian territory to the eleventh Olympic Games in Berlin and hope our representatives at these Games will be successful.” That same day the Leidsche Courant reported on the events in Prague: “Last night the Olympic torch arrived in Prague, and festivities were organised on the Alstaedter Ring. The Foreign Affairs minister, Dr. Krofta, welcomed the torch bearer on behalf of the President of the Czech Republic and the government.” However, the Dutch newspapers didn’t report on the several demonstrations in Prague surrounding the flame, as happened in Yugoslavia. Despite the best efforts of the stewards there to protect it, protesters frequently managed to put out the flame. These protests had been instigated by Greek communists, who considered the Games of 1936 a propaganda stunt by Hitler. They wanted to do everything they could to disrupt the torch relay as much as possible. These are a few examples of how supporters and opponents of Nazi-‐Germany confronted each other during the 1936 torch relay. Understandably, none of these disputes were mentioned in the official reports of the games. After all, the flame was meant to represent peace and harmony between people.
The bloody start of the 1948 Olympic torch relay The 1948 torch relay went from Olympia to London. A bloody civil war was raging in Greece at that time, and the torch relay got off to a very grim start. This was carefully omitted in the official reports. The 1948 torch relay was the first one after the Second World War and was therefore symbolised as a march for peace. Throughout Europe the torch bearers were welcomed with open arms: “May the Olympic flame bring us the triumph of love over hate, of peace over war. Let this flame be a flame of love and confidence.” The deadly battles during the ceremony in Olympia and the failed murder attempt of the first torch bearer were not mentioned. After all, these acts of violence were incompatible with the message of peace and were even left out of the official report of the 1948 Olympics. Even the torch relay’s bloody start was overlooked. In 1948, in the aftermath of the Second World War, a gruesome civil war raged in Greece. Communist guerrillas were fighting government troops, who were backed by Great Britain. ‘The usual ceremony of bearing the Olympic torch’, anticipated the Dutch daily newspaper De Waarheid on 9 July 1948, ‘will present difficulties this time.’
These worries were confirmed, for on 20 July the same newspaper had the following report on the ceremonies: ‘Fighter aircraft circled over Olympia. The access roads were packed with armed soldiers.’ According to the Nieuwe Leidsche Courant bloody battles had broken out: ‘At the temple of Zeus, near Olympia, Greek guerrillas shot at journalists and naval officers who were on their way to the lighting of the torch. One soldier was killed.’ The communists were looking for Konstantinos Dimitrelis, the first torch bearer. Dimitrelis was a corporal in the Greek army and served at Olympia in 1948. He reportedly took off his uniform during the ceremony, put down his weapon and walked off with the torch. This was a dangerous move, and the spectators were lucky to avoid the bullets flying around. Dimitrelis survived the attack and, to his Greek family’s frustration, gave the torch to an uncle in Chicago. The lighting of the fire in Olympia in 1948 was a battle between two forms of propaganda. On one hand you had the ideology of the Olympic Games and their host Great Britain, on the other hand the beliefs of the Greek communists. Had the guerrillas executed their deadly plan with success, this would have been a severe blow for both the Greek and the British government. No expense was spared to prevent this from happening. A Greek battleship lay off the coast to protect the Olympic flame, which was rapidly transported to continue its journey through Europe. The fact that there had been a fatality, despite all these precautionary measures, seemed a victory for the Greek communist propaganda. However, this incident was so carefully omitted in the official chronicle that eventually it was more a pyrrhic victory. For what good is a won battle if it remains unnoticed?