An Unknown Letter by the IOC President to Hitler from the Year 1941

15® I H t a n ® i s s D x a in iE S S B , W M ,
j i s o ü ]
Hans Joachim Teichler
Despite his subtle criticism regarding the ostentation
of the 1936 Olympic Games1, IOC president BailletLatour was deeply impressed by German sport and the
achievements of the German organizers. In fact, before
the Olympic Games in Berlin the IOC had, under his
leadership, already decidedly backed the German organ­
izers against the international protest movement.
Had the position of the IOC been critical at the begin­
ning and had the IOC, urged by the Americans, initially
demanded the possibility of participation for German
Jews, it would have soon adopted an adaptation strat­
egy, at the very latest after Hitler’s refusal of August
24th 19352 to implement the promises made at the IOC
sessions in Vienna (1933) and Athens (1934).
The IOC would later openly demonstrate that it gave
little importance to the fate of the Jewish athletes in
Germany when, during its session in London in June
1939, it decided to withdraw the 1940 Olympic Winter
Games from St. Moritz because of a dispute concern­
ing the alpine ski competitions in St. Moritz and to again
award the Games to Garmisch-Partenkirchen3. This was
after the infamous 1938 November pogrom known as
“Crystal Night” and the resulting disruption of the Jewish
sport movement.
This withdrawal of the Games in 1939 is an incident
that, like the exclusion of US American Lee Jahncke
in the 1936, who was the only IOC member to protest
against the “games under the swastika”, is singular in the
history of the Olympic movement and that must not be
categorized as “appeasement” 4, even if the German side
assured the IOC members in London in 1939 that their
intent was to “ ... hold a festival of peace”. 5
At this point, the German Reich had already breached
the Munich Agreement of 1938. German troops had
invaded Prague and the Reichsprotektor prohibited
the Czech founding member of the IOC, Dr Jiri GuthJarkovsky, to leave the country for London6. The proGerman and pro-fascist fraction of the IOC, to which
Avery Brundage counted without any doubt, had gained
a clearly stronger position with the co-optation of four
new members belonging to the Anti-Comintern Pact
(of six new members in total), among them the fascist
General Vaccaro (Italy) and N.D. Horthy, the son of the
Reichsverweser of Hungary.
The IOC had already demonstrated its favorable posi­
tion by awarding Olympic decorations to the Italian and
German leisure sport organizations “Opera Nationale
Dopolavoro” (1934) and “Kraft durch Freude” (1938).
The latter had, in 1936, one week before the games in
Berlin, organized the World Congress for Leisure and
Recreation in Hamburg with the participation of promi­
nent IOC members.7
Further steps towards a German domination of the
small IOC administration of those years were the assign­
ment of the International Olympic Institute, that had been
founded in 1938 with Reich-funding, with the publication
of a trilingual Olympic Review8, that would serve as the
32
IOC President Baillet-Latour broadcasting a speech over the radio on
the occasion of the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles
(IOC archives)
IOC’s official organ; and the appointment of Diem’s
confidant Werner Klingenberg as IOC Secretary. This
situation was criticized by the IOC in the Dutch news­
paper Sport in Beeld as a grave breach of neutrality.9 The
“transition into German hands”, as Carl Diem himself
had described his objective in the negotiations with
IOC President Henri de Baillet-Latour after the victori­
ous Battle of France in the Summer of 194010, would not
be reached, however, because Baillet-Latour, in October
1940, had put the IOC in an unspecified state of rest. By
taking this measure, he proved to be more far-sighted and
to have better diplomatic skill than the Swedish VicePresident of the IOC, Sigfried Edstrom (IOC President
between 1942 and 1952) and Avery Brundage (IOC
President between 1952 and 1972), who both had been
convinced by the victory of the Germans in 1940 and
who had favored a speedy session of the IOC Executive
Committees in Berlin in August 194011.
Shortly before his death in January 1942, the
Germanophile Belgian IOC President, whom Hitler had
courted in Berlin, but ridiculed as an “Olympic dodderer”
behind his back, felt the need to warn Hitler about the
“...extent of the Communist propaganda that currently
rages in Belgium and that makes profit of the miser­
able situation of the population by fomenting hate, just
as it happened in Germany in the years after the Peace
of Versailles.” 12 His attempt to obtain a more indulgent
occupation regime with this letter remained unanswered.
J o u rn a l
of
O ly m p ic H i s t o r y 1 6 ( D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 ) N u m b e r 3
1ISH
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF
OLYMPIC HISTORIANS
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B r u x e lle s , Le
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DMITÉ NATIONAL fflDOCATION PHYSIQUE
COMITÉ OLYMPIQUE BELGE
Dear Mr Reichssportführer,
Mon o he r R e io h s p o rtfh tlre r,
*4, RUE GUIMARD, 14
BRUXELLES
E34505¡6
TELEPHONE 12.30.73
reference:
-
Je.m e r é j o u l s de l a v i s i t e d u D r Diem,
q u i nous p e r m e t t r a » j r dn s u i s c e r t a i n , de c o n t i n u e r c e t t e c o l l a b o ­
r a t i o n # qui a eu d Theu reu x r é s u l t a t s
Nous avons t o u t e s r a i s o n s d Ten S tr e
au p o i n t de. vue s p o i r t i f .
s a t i s f a i t s , c a r i l n f en e s t
p a s de mime dans to u s l e s doraaines. Oe r e s u l t a t e s t du p rin c ip í a le
mentjá au f a i t que "eh e z nousnI e s l e v i e r s de commands s o n t r e s t é s
XL
dans l e s m ains d e s a u t o r i t é s q u a l i f i é e s , s a n s a v o i r , k s o f f r i r
q u * ie i
de 1*i n f e r e n c e d f ele m e n ts d i s s i d e n t s , q u i , a f i n
ju s-
de s a t i s f a i
r e le f r r s a m b itio n s p e r s o n n e l .l e s ,s Teffo .rq e n t , e n s u rp ren a& t s o u v e n t
l a bonne f o i des A u t o r i t é s o c c u p a n te s ,d s s , a t t i r e r
Deux ca u s e s o n t m o d ifie
le u r p ro te o iin .
1* ambiance f a v o r a b l e , e x i s t a n te au d e b u t de
1To c c u p a tio p q u i comme ¿Je vous 1* a i d i t en noverabre é t a i t dúe
aux #
v e x a t io n s des t r o u p e s a l l i e s , a u x e v a c u a t i o n s -f o rc e e s , k 1 Tabandon
de l a B e lg iq u e h son s o r t ap re s l a r e t r a i t e de Buidcerqu^ &*une p a r t
a i n s i qu*& 1* a t t i t u d e , des A u t o r i t e s oo cu p a n tes v i s a v i s de l a po­
p u l a t i o n . La p re m ie re e s t l a s i t u a t i o n t e r r i b l e de l a B elg iq u e au
po ñ n t de vue m até t i e l e t économi que a p r e s un an d* o c o u p a tio n .L a d i ­
m in u tio n du b e t a i l , d e s p o r e s , de l a v o l a t i l e , p a r s u i t e des- r é q u i s i • t i o n s e t de l a d i f f i c u i t é de l e s n o u r r i r , r e s u l t a n t du b l o c u s , l a i s s e
n o t r e p o p u la tio n s an s v ia n d e ,s a n s pomraes de t e r r e , s a n s o e u f s e t '
s a n s l a i t * n i fromdge n i g r a i s s e • La p á n u r i e de m a t i e r e s p a n i f 'ta ­
b le s
Letter of March 10th 1941 by Count Baillet-Latour to the
Reichssportfiihrer (Reich sport leader) von Tschammer und
Osten
I am pleased to receive the visit of Dr. Diem, which I am sure
will permit us to continue this collaboration which has brought
about good results for the sport. We can well be pleased with it
because in other areas it is not so good. We owe it to the fact that
“here with us” the steering wheel remains in the hands of qualified
authorities without having to suffer the interference of dissenting
elements, who, in order to satisfy their personal ambitions, often
try to take the goodwill of the occupation authorities by surprise
to win their protection. There are two causes for the change of
the atmosphere that had been favorable at the beginning of the
occupation. As I told you in November, these two causes are,
on the one hand, the humiliation by the Allied troops, the forced
evacuations and the abandonment of Belgium after the with­
drawal from Dunkirk, and, on the other hand, the attitude of the
occupation authorities towards the population. The first reason
is the terrible situation in Belgium after one year of occupation in
terms of material and the economy. The decrease in the number
of livestock, pork and fowl as a result of requisitions and the con­
sequences of the blockade, the difficulties to feed them leave
our population without meat, without potatoes, without eggs and
without milk. There is neither cheese nor fat available. The short­
age of raw materials for bread also makes it impossible to com­
pensate for the lack of fat with additional bread rations, of which
there is also a shortage, not to speak of its deteriorated quality.
n e perm et p a s de re m p la ee r l e s m a t i e r e s g r a s s e s p a r d e s ra~
9691A
10291A
Page 1
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Letter of March 10th 1941 by Count Baillet-Latour to the
Reichssportfiihrer von Tschammer und Osten
The ration cards are useless because in the stores we cannot
even obtain the minimal quantities to which these stamps entitle.
The children are suffering even more than the adults and the
productivity of an anemic working class decreases every day,
especially in the coal mines. With regard to the economy, these
are almost our only source of revenue. All our other factories are
running slow because of the lack of raw materials and the scarce­
ness of means of transportation, be it by rail or by lorry. Due to
the discriminations made between Flemings and Walloons in the
form of the repatriation of prisoners, they also have a shortage
of qualified workers. This is the second reason of the discon­
tent that I have mentioned before. In fact, the farm workers are
from the Flemish regions while the Walloon regions provide the
industry with the necessary workforce. The alleged animosity
between our two races only exists in the minds of the politicians.
Both Flemings and Walloons, I assure you, are humiliated and
offended by this difference in treatment. Every Belgian worth his
name has the same contempt for the activists and for the Rexists
that every good German had in 1920 for the separatists. In 1939,
the great majority of the population, without distinction of race,
shared the wish of the King to keep strict neutrality in the conflict.
Today the same majority has just one wish: the return of Peace
to a free Belgium under the aegis of its venerated King. Belgium
wants to restore good-neighborly relations with its neighbors, to
make a clean sweep of the past, to forget the petty domestic
quarrels that have divided them and to rebuild the country from
its ruins.
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BRUXELLES.le
E215057
MUÉ NATIONAL ffÉDÜDATIOH PHISIQUE
r a t i o n s sup o lé r n e n ta ire s de p a i n q u i l u i
COMITÉ OLYMPIQUE BELGE
a u s s i f a i t a é f airfc, s a n s p a r l e r de so n mangue
de g u a l i t é . Les c a r t e s ae r a v i t a l l l e m e n t n e
14. RUE GUIMARD, 14
BRUXELLES
s e r v e n t h r i e n . p u i s q u e 1 'o n n e p e u t mSme p a s
TELEPHONE 12.30.73
Compte ch£que Postal 1576.93
minim es auxqu.el3.es ce s t i m b r e s d o n n e n t d r o i t
o b t o n i r dons l e s m ag a sin s l e s q u a n t i t é s t r e s
REFERENCE :
L e s e n f a n t s en s o u f f r e n t p l u s e n c o re gue l e s
a d ' t e s e t l e re n d em en t
du t r a v e l 1 f o u m i p a r u n e o l a s s e o u v r i e r e a«c
m iée d e v i e n t p l u s f a i b l e ohaque j o u r , s u r t o u t dan s l e s e h a r b t o i a g e s .
Au p o i n t de vue éeonom igae ,e e u x c i s o n t
de r e v e n u s , no 3
p re s q u e
n o t r e s e u l e s o u rc e
a u t r e s u s i n e s , mar c h a n t au r a l e n t i , a c a u s e d u mangue
de m e t i e r e s p r e m ie r e s
a i n s i gue de
l a p é n u rie d es
moyens d e t r a n s ­
p o r t p a r r a i l ou p a r cam ion. S i l e s s e t r a u v e n t e g a le m n e n t á c o u r t d'*
o n v r i e r s q u a l i f i e s , P * r . s u i t e de l a d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , f a i t e p o u r l e p ap a t r i e m e n t d e s p r i s o n n i e r s e n t r e fla m a n d s e t w a ll o n s . C e l l e c i e s t l a
s e c o n d s c a u s e d e m cc o n te n te ra e n t,d o n t ,}r a i p a r l e o n t e r i e u r e m e n t . E a , e f
f e t l e s o u v r i e r s a g r i o o l e s p ro v i e n n e n t d e s p r o v i n c e s fla m a n d e s e t
ce s o n t l e s p r o v i n c e s t f a l l o n n e s ,g u i f o u m i s s e n t
le personnel n ec essai
r e a l ’ i n d u s t r i e . L a p r é t e n d u e a n im o s ité e n t r e n o s deux r a c e s n ' e x i s t e
qu e d a n s l ' e s p r i t d e s p o l i t i c i e n s . F lam ands comme w a l l o n s , ¡ e v o u s l ' a s eure
s o n t h u m illa s e t vexes
p a r c e t t e d i f f e r e n c e de t r a i t e m e n t . l o u t
B e i g e , d i g n e de ee nom a p o u r l e s a c t i v i s t e s e t l e s r e x i s t e s l e m&me
m ó p ris
aue t o u t boij. A llem and a v a i t en 1920 p o u r l e s s e p a r a t i s t a s . En
19 39 , 1 a g ra n d e r a a j o r i t é d e l a p o p u l a t i o n ,s o n s d i s t i n c t i o n de r a o e , é t a t
av e o l e Hoi animé du d é s l r d 'o b s e r v e r dan s l e o o n f l i t l a p l u s s r i o t e n u
n e u t r a l i t é ; a u á o u r d 'h u i l a mAme m a j o r l t é
n ' a g u 'u n d o s i r : l e r e t o u r de
l a P a i x d a n s une B e l g i q u e U b r e , sous 1 - é g i d e de Son Roi v é n é r é . E l i e
v e u t r é t a b l i r d e s r e l a t i o n s de bon v o s in a g e avec s e s v o i s i n s . f a i r e *&.
Page 2
J o u rn a l
of
O ly m p ic H i s t o r y 1 6 ( D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 ) N u m b e r 3
33
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SOC I E T E ROY A L E
(0MITÉ NATIONAL BÍDBCATIOH PHYSIQUE
COMITÉ OLYMPIQUE BELGE
dT s mT e’ro !
secretariato£n£ral!
14. RUE GUIMARD, 14
bruxelles
amuk TtitM. 16DUCAPHYS-&RuxELLEs
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Letter of March 10th 1941 by Count Baillet-Latour to the
Reichssportführer von Tschammer und Osten
_
BRUXELLES. Ll
t a b l e r a s e t o , a s s á , o u m e r l o e m oeiui
nes q u e re lle s
í n t é r i e u r e s qui l e s d i *
v is a le n t e t re le T e r l a p a t r ie
r u l n e s s l l n ry
de s e s
-safra! t n i h a i n e n i ra n "
' 4
cune s i l e s s o u f l r a n e e s r a a t e r i e l l e s e t
4-
p h y s i q u e s , que1 a ■pro.pagande a n g l a i s e
TELEPHONE 12.30,73
Comet»' CHiout postal 1876.93
REFERENCE':
e x p l o i t e h ab.ileraent
,
p o u v a ie n t £ t r e a l -
,
,
le g s e s *
Lore de, l a o l ó t u r e ; d e s J e u x C ay m p lq u ea .le F h u re r _ a daigná_ ms iem an d e r
s i . l e c a s é c h o a n t . i l p o u v a l t co rap tsr s u r mol* J e l u l en s i f a i t l a p r o messe e t j ’ a i l a c o n v i o t i o n que j a n a i s un.0 o c c a s io n m e l l l e u r e n e pou­
E245058
r s s e p r e s e n t e r p o u r t e ñ i r ma p a r o l e .
J e p re n d s done l a l i b e r t é de v ó u s deraander de L u i f a i r e p a r t dn eon
t e n u de l a p r é s e n t e l e t t r e . XI y t r o u v e r a une p re u v e : n o u v e l l e d e X
f r a n c h i s e avec l a q u e l l e J * exprim e ma penséew l l me e o n n a i t s u f f t -
,
samment p o u r s a v o i r que l e s e u l m ó t if qui me f a i t a g i r e s t o e l u i
de l , é c l a i r e r , c e que 3e s u i s a mSme de f a i r e grS.ce
aux r e l a t i o n s .
q u e ,p a r l e s p o r t , J f a i avec t o u t e s l e s c l a s s e s de l a s o c i é té * P l e i n
de c o n f ia n c e d a n s l a S agesse, de Son Jugernent, d ont l l a défta donné
)
t a n t de p r e u v e s j J e s u i s a s o u r é q u * I l a p p o r t e r a un soulage m e nt a
l a m is e re de l a B e lg iq u e e t d o n n e ra aux A u t o r i t e s o co u p a n tes l e s
d i r e c t i v e s 'n é e e s s a i r e s *
I»r e x p e rie n c e
que J Ta i a c q u is e p e r s o n n e l
There would be neither hate nor rancor if the material and
physical suffering, which British propaganda cleverly exploits,
could be reduced.
During the closing of the Olympic Games, the Führer deigned
to ask me if he could count on me, should the situation arise. I
promised him that and I am convinced that there will never be a
better chance to keep my word.
Therefore I am so free as to ask you to brief Him on the content
of this letter. He will find this yet another proof of the frankness
with which I express my thoughts. He knows me well enough to
know that the only reason for this letter is to inform him, which
I am able to do because of the relations that, thanks to sport, I
have with all classes of society. Full of confidence in the wisdom
of His judgment, of which he has already given many proofs; I
am convinced that he will bring relief from the misery of Belgium
and that he will give the necessary instructions to the occupation
authorities. My personal experience in the numerous encounters
that I have had with these, which have yielded excellent results,
I hold out hope for the future.
Finally, I assure him that an act of goodwill will assure Him of the
cooperation of every Belgian of goodwill.
Believe me, my dear Reichssportführer,
Most respectfully yours,
lem en t au c o u r s d e s nombreux c o n t a c t s que J Ta i eus avec c e l l e s fc
c i et dont le s r é s u lta ts o nt é té e x c e lle n is
f a i t que J e con­
Signed Baillet-Latour
s e r v e l * e s p o .i r dans V a v e n i r .
En t e r m i n a n t J e I 1 a s s u r e
qufu n g e s t e de. Sa p a r t l u i a s s u r e ­
Page 3
r s l e c o n c o u rs de t o u s l e s Belge.s de bonne v o l o n t é .
Croyez m oi, mon c h e r H e ic h s s p o r t f h t l r e r
V o tre to u t, dévoué,
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SOC I E T E R O Y A L E
PQlfÉ NATIONAL IPÉDUCÁT
COMITÉ OLYMPIQUE BELGE
Association.sans Birr Lucratif
Annexe k l a l e t t r e . du 10 M ai, 1941
j e s a i s £ s o e t t e o c c a s i o n de vous e n v o y e r une docu­
m e n t a t i o n s u r 1* im p o rta n c e de lj* p ro p agand e c o m m n i s t e qui
s é v i t en B e lg iq u e a c t u e l l e m e n t e t q u i t i r e p r o f i t de l a s i t u ­
a t i o n m i s e r a b l e ou se tr o u v e
l a p o p u la tio n ,p o u r e x c ite r le s
h a i n e s , I . U i n s t a r de ce qui s ' e s t p a s s é en A llem agne»pendant ,
l e s a n n e e s ,q u i o n t s u i v i
Annex to the letter of March 10th 1941 by Count BailletLatour to the Reichssportführer von Tschammer und Osten
(May 12th 1941)
l a p a i x de V e r s a i l l e s * .
l fu n i o n de t o u s l e s bons c i t o y e n s s e r a n é o e s s a i r e
pour l a o o n tre e a rre r#
l e developpenuant du b o lch e v ism o e s t l e g ra n d
a c tu e lle m e n t.
I seize this opportunity to send you documentation about the
extent of the Communist propaganda that is currently raging in
Belgium and is taking advantage of the miserable situation of the
population by fomenting hate, just as it happened in Germany in
the years after the Peace of Versailles.
In order to counteract this development it will be necessary to
unite all good citizens.
The development of Bolshevism is the great danger at the
moment.
Signed Baillet-Latour
34
E245059
9691A
J o u rn a l
of
10291A
O ly m p ic H i s t o r y 1 6 ( D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 ) N u m b e r 3
]
Carl Diem forwarded Count Baillet-Latour’s letter to the Reich
Chancellery on June 28, 1941 and the Head of the Reich
Chancellery sent the following answer and forwarded the letter
to General Field Mashall Keitel, Commander in Chief of the
German Army.
Her'rn
;
.Reichsminister Dr. Lammer3, 3.
Be.rlin W 8, VoBstraBe
S eiar; v e r e h r t e r H e rr R e i c h s m i n i s t e r ,
Cover letter by Carl Diem to Reich Minister Lammers (June
28th 1941)
d e r R e i c h s s p o r t f i i h r e r h a t vom P r i i s i d e n te n d e s I n t e r n a t i o n a l e r
Glym pi.scheh K o m itees, dem G ra fe n de B a i l l . e t - L a t o u r , ei-non
B r i e f ^ e r h u l t e n , d e r d i e Lage i n B e l g i e n , urid e in e ri w e it o r e n ,
d e r d i e d o r t bem erkbare lcom m unistioche P ro p a g a n d a s c h i l d e r t .
Dear Mr Reichsminister,
Da e r s i c h am CchluB. d e s e r s t e r e n B r i e 'í e s a u f e i n e U n t e r h a l t u n g m it dem F ü h r e r b e z i e h t und deh R e i c h s s p o r t f ü h r e r b i t t e t ,
d eji-J 'ilh re r Uher d e n . I n h a l t des B r i e f e s zu u n t e r r i c h t e n , Uberr e i c h e i c h im A u f tr a g e d e s R e l c h s s p o r t f ü h r e r 3 d i e -b e i l i e g e ñ d í
S c h r e i b e n . Die V erzogorung i n d e r V/eitergabe* i s t d u rc h d i e
K ra n k h e it des R eic h ssp o rtfU h re rs e n tstá n d e n .
u
o
C--,
H e ll H i t l e r !
'*
.
Ih r sehr ergebener
The Reichssportfiihrer has received one letter from the President
of the International Olympic Committee, Count Baillet-Latour, that
describes the situation in Belgium and another one that relates
the noticeable Communist propaganda in the region.
Since at the end of the first letter he refers to a conversation with
the Führer and requests that the Führer be informed about the
contents of the letter, on behalf of the Reichssportführer, I hereby
forward you the enclosed letters. The delay is due to the illness
of the Reichssportführer.
Heil Hitler!
G2-15055
Most respectfully yours
Signed Diem
------------------------------------'
—
vori Tschammer und O aten
. •*»>
B e rlin -C h a r lo tte n b u rg 9
zv/yít.
¿
a
Letter by the Head of the Reich Chancellery to the
Reichssportfiihrer von Tschammer und Osten (July 23rd
1941)
I? W l- Ma /
Haus d e s d e u ts c h e n S p o rts.
Dear Mr Reichssportführer!
.S ehr g e e h r t e r H e rr R e i c h s s p o r t f i i h r e r !
h
Das I n t e r n a t i o n a l e O lym pische I n s t i t u t
The International Olympic Institute has forwarded to me two
letters addressed to you by Count Baillet-Latour and has asked
me to brief the Führer on its contents.
Under the given circumstances it is impossible for me to trouble
the Führer with this matter. However, I will keep an eye on this
matter and at a suitable moment will inform the Führer about the
letters.
To not leave the Count’s message unregarded, I have
communicated its contents to the head of the Oberkommando
der Wehrmacht for forwarding to the Oberbefehlshaber des
Heeres, who is in charge of the administration of Belgium.
h a t m ir zw ei B r i e f e , d i e G r a f de B a i l l e t - L a t o u r
I
•a n
S ie g e r i c h t e t h a t , z u g l e io h m it I h r e r B i t t e
u b e r m i t t e l t , deri F ü h re r vom. I n h a i t d i e s e r B r i e f e
zu u n t e r r i c h t e n .
,U nter den g e g e n w a r tig e n V e r h a l t n i s s e n i s t
e s m ir l e i d e r unm oglich, den F ü h r e r m it d i e s e r
.A n g e le g e n h e it zu b e f a s s e n . I c h w i l l d i e Angel e g e n h e i t a b e r g e m ini Auge b e h a l t e n und dem
}
F ü h r e r b e i g e e i g n e t e r G e le g e n h e it von den B r i e f e n
)
'
K e n n th is gebe n.
Urn d i e M i t te i lu n g e n d e s G ra fe n i n d e r
Z w is c h e n z e it n i c h t u n b e a c h te t zu l a s s e n , h abe
i c h s i e dem Chef des Oberkommandos d e r V/ehrmacht
Heil Hitler!
z u r V/ei t e r l e i t u n g a n dén O b e r b e f e h l s h a b e r de.3
!r
Ff
1
íi e e r e s m i t g e t e i l t , dem d i e V e rw a ltu n g i n B e lg ie n
v
Most respectfully yours
u n te r ste h t.
H e il H i t l e r !
Ih r sehr ergebener
[■
The Head of the Reich Chancellery
(N .d.H.'RM in.)
Letter by the Head of the Reich Chancellery
Generalfeldmarschall Keitel (July 23rd 1941)
to
Dear Mr Generalfeldmarschall!
den Ghef des Oberkommandos d e r Sehrmacht
H errn -G en e ra lfe ld m a rsc h a ll K e ite l
Sehr v e r e h r t e r Herr G e n e ra lfe ld m a rsc h a ll!
fU h re r-H a u p tq u a rtie r.
Anbei iibersende ic h Ihnen n e b st
Enclosed you will find two letters by the well-known Count de
Baillet-Latour with annexes and their German translation. The
Reichssportführer, to whom these letters are addressed, has
asked me to inform the Führer about their content. I will fulfill
this request at a later date, but I would think it advisable that
the Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres be informed of its contents
as soon as possible. I therefore leave it to your discretion to see
to this.
agiigsL Síi-
\Jberse'WUI'§en (
B riefe g e r i c h t e t . s i n d , h a t mich g ebeten,
den Fü h rer von ihrem I n h a lt zu u n t e r r ic h ten-. ’I ch werde d i e s e r B i t te b e i s p d te r e r
\
G e legenheit e n ts p re c h en , mBchte e s .a b e r fUr
zweckmaBig h a lte n ,. wenn d e r Oberbefehlshaber
des Heéres von ihrem I n h a l t a ls b a l d Kenntnis
Sorge zu tra g e n .
Most respectfully yours
The Head of the Reich Chancellery
of
Per B e ic h s s p o r tf u h r e r, an den d ie s e
.
Absch£¿—
^’ Á
pTprieí®
aer
e r h a l t . Ich s t e l l e . daher anheim, h i e r f ü r
Heil Hitler!
J o u rn a l
Anlagen zwei B r ie f e deB. bekannten G rafen de
B a i l l e t - I a t o u r i n d e u ts c h e r Ubersetzung.
O ly m p ic H i s t o r y 1 6 ( D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 ) N u m b e r 3
H e il H i t le r !
I h r s e h r ergebener
(H.d.H.HMin.)
35
i s o h
]
Henri Baillet-Latours4 letter to Hitler
What led to the letter13 of May 5th 1940 and how were
relations between Baillet-Latour and the Germans during
the war? Initially, the relations between the IOC President
and the Germans, who upon his initiative were supposed
to host the 1940 Olympic Winter Games14, were good.
On September 24th 1939, three weeks before the out­
break of war, he still uttered his disappointment about
the announcement of the cancellation of the Olympic
Winter Games and the “skiing-day”. It did not seem to
bother him that the collective descent of 8000 German
and about 1000 foreign skiers was planned to conclude
with a short field exercise of the German Wehrmacht and
an eight-minute address by Hitler15. The good relations
with the German Reich would later deteriorate with the
invasion of the German troops in May 1940. To make
things worse, the troops were under the command of
German IOC member Walter von Reichenau. Although
Baillet-Latour’s house had not been damaged and even
had the neutral status of a foreign embassy, when looters,
especially those in the SS, followed the troops, he lost
some of his thoroughbred horses along with fencing
equipment and the records of the International Fencing
Federation. In his position as the President of the Jockey
Club of Belgium, Baillet-Latour complained during Carl
Diem’s visit in 1940 about the confiscation of his racing
horses. Other than that, he expressed his understanding
for the German Reich:
„ Other than that, he was very ju st to Germany and
fu ll o f indignation against England. He told me
about his futile disputes with his English friends
and about the dilettantism o f theirs and the Allies...
He scoffed at the inexperienced leaders o f Belgium
and France. He particularly praised the behavior
o f the Germans... “16
Carl Diem’s diary entry should not be overrated,
however, all the more so because the words attributed
to Baillet-Latour had been spoken immediately after the
military defeat of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The actual political attitude in the house Baillet-Latour
might be derived from the fact that his son fought and
died as a pilot for the Allies.
It will probably never be known whether his appro­
val of the German demands in 1940 on the occasion of
the visit of the Reichssportführer [Sport Leader of the
Reich; explanatory note] von Tschammer und Osten,
who had requested a right of delegation for their IOC
members that would have meant the end of the current
co-optation procedure, was real or of a merely diplo­
matic nature. Baillet-Latour did not have to implement
the German demands for a “reorganization of the IOC”
17, because he had already put the IOC in an unspeci­
fied state of rest in October 1940. It was probably a real­
istic assumption that this question would also be decided
by the outcome of the war. Nevertheless, his relations
36
with the Reichssportführer appear to have been trustful,
because only this can explain that Baillet-Latour wrote
to the Reichssportführer on May 10, 1941 to inform
Hitler about the deplorable state of the German occu­
pation regime. He mainly described the “the terrible
Carl Diem, secretary of the organizing committee for the 1936 Games
in Berlin, shows IOC President Baillet-Latour around the construction
site of the sports facilities (IOC Archives)
situation in Belgium with regard to material and the
economy” and the different attitudes towards Walloon
and Flemish prisoners and population, which BailletLatour disapproved of as undiplomatic and mistaken. To
strengthen his argumentation, he added examples of the
“Communist propaganda” resulting from this situation.
18 The backgrounds known today and Hitler’s aversion
against the “Olympic dodderers” prove Baille-Latours’
hopes that his words would have an influence on Hitler.
Nevertheless, his attempt to obtain a more indulgent
occupation regime by urging of the patron of the most
recent Olympic Summer games should be regarded as
honorable and brave, although politically it was rather
naive.
Due to the Reichssportführer’s illness, it was not
until June 28th 1941 that Diem presented the letter of
May 10th 1941 to the Reich Chancellery— on paper
of the International Olympic Institute (!). One week
before, on June 22nd 1941, Germany had invaded the
Soviet Union. For this reason, it took four weeks until
the Reichssportführer received a response from the head
Jo u rn a l
of
O ly m p ic H i s t o r y 1 6 ( D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 ) N u m b e r 3
of the Reich Chancellery, Reich Minister Lammers.
He refused to inform the Führer “under the given cir­
cumstances”, but sent the “Count’s” message to the
“Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres [commander-in-chief
of the army; explanatory note], who is in charge of the
administration of Belgium.” The reaction of the occu­
pation authorities in Brussels is not known.
Baillet-Latour died at the beginning of January 1942.
The German-language newspaper, Brüsseler Zeitung,
gave an account of the pompous funeral (“two lorries were
not enough to carry all those wreaths to the church” 19)
that was attended by only two IOC members, namely
Schimmelpennigk (Niederlande) and Karl Ritter von
Halt. To exploit him one more time, even after his death,
for the Third Reich propaganda, the German press did
not only print telegrams of sympathy by von Tschammer
und Osten and Hitler, but also Baillet-Latour’s words
of disapproval on the cancellation of the 1940 Olympic
Winter Games20. ■
Notes:
1
2
3
“Moins de festivités, il faut retoum er á l’atm osphére hellénique
des Jeux“, déclare M. de Baillet-Latour, president du C.I.O. Libre
Belgique, newspaper-clipping with date, 20.8.1936. Politisches
Archiv des A usw artigen Amts, Presseberichte Olympische Spiele
1936, B d .l.
Am d Rrüger, Theodor Lewald. Sportfiihrer ins Dritte Reich,
Berlin, M ünchen, Frankfurt/M. 1975, p. 47.
4
Subtitle in: Krüger/M urray (annotation 1)
5
Archiv der Gegenwart; 20.6.1939.
6
Teichler, Internationale Sportpolitik, p. 224.
7
cf. Teichler, Hans Joachim: Die faschistische Epoche des IOC, in:
Historical Social Research 32 (2007) H. 1, (in print)
8
German, French, Englisch; 1942 also Italian.
9
cf. Pressedienst des N ationalsozialistischen Pressedienstes o f
March 27,.1940 and „01ym pische Schmutzfinkerei", in: NS-Sport
o f M arch 3, 1940.
10
Carl D iem ’s diary o f July 17, 1940. Lieselott und Carl DiemArchiv Koln.
11
Edstrom, circular letter o f August 13, 1940. Avery Brundage
Collection Reel 24, Box 42.
12
Letter o f Baillet-Latour to the Reichssportführer (with the request
to b rief Hitler) o f M ay 10, 1941. BA Rk 43 II/675a
13
All the letters including the Germ an translation are archived in the
Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv) R k 43 II/675a fifteen pages.
14
Letter o f the Reichssportführer von Tschammer und Osten to
the Head oft he Reich Chancellery, Berlin May 8,1939. BA RK
4311/73 la.
15
cf. Hans Joachim Teichler, Internationale Sportpolitik des Dritten
Reiches, Schom dorf 1991, p. 262 and following.
16
Carl D iem ’s diary o f July 19, 1940.
17
Report by von Tschammer und Osten about his voyage to the
occupied Western territories. Berlin, D ecember 3, 1940. Polictical
archive o f the Federal Foreign Office, Sportwesen Deutschland 6.
18
While the letter is dated M ay 10, 1941, the cover letter was not
written until May 12, 1941.
19
Briisseler Zeitung o f January 10, 1942.
20
Brüsseler Zeitung o f January 10, 1942.
Hajo Bemett, Das Scheitem der Olympischen Spiele von 1940,
in: Stadion 1980, p. 251-290 und Hans Joachim Teichler, Die
Entscheidung von London, in: Ders., Internationale Sportpolitik,
pp. 224-232.
The coffin containing the mortal remains of IOC President Baillet-Latour, draped in the
Olympic flag (IOC archives)
J
ournal of
O ly m p ic H i s t o r y 1 6 ( D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 ) N u m b e r 3
37