Gretel Bergmann

{{short description|High jumper who emigrated from Nazi Germany to the United States}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Gretel Bergmann

| image = Margaret Bergmann Lambert.png

| image_size =

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| caption =

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| birthname = Margarethe Bergmann

| fullname = Margaret Bergmann-Lambert

| nationality =

| national_team =

| citizenship = German
American

| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|04|12|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany

| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|7|25|1914|04|12|mf=y}}

| death_place = Queens, New York, U.S.

| monuments =

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| occupation = Athlete

| years_active = 1930–1939 overall; 1930–1933 and 1936 in Germany, 1934 in the United Kingdom, 1937–1939 in the United States

| employer =

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| height =

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| spouse = Bruno Lambert, M.D.

|

| country = Germany, excluded due to ethnicity in 1933 and 1936
United States

| sport = Track and field

| position =

| event = High jump

| event_type =

| retired = Forced to retire in 1936 by Germany
Retired in the United States in 1939

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| updated = 26 July 2017

}}

Gretel Lambert (born Margarethe Bergmann; April 12, 1914 – July 25, 2017)[https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/sports/olympics/margaret-bergmann-lambert-dead-barred-from-1936-olympics.html?referer= Obituary], nytimes.com, July 25, 2017; accessed September 10, 2017. was a German Jewish track and field athlete who competed as a high jumper during the 1930s.

Due to her Jewish origins, the Nazis prevented her from taking part in the 1936 Summer Olympics, after which she left Germany and vowed never to return. She however visited Germany in 2004 to meet with her 1930s rival Elfriede Kaun, whom she considered a friend.{{cite news|last=Wischer |first=Heiko |title=Elfriede Kaun und Gretel Bergmann – Erinnerungen an den Hochsprung-Wettbewerb der Olympischen Spiele 1936 |language=German |publisher=DOSB Sport |date=6 October 2009 |url=https://germanroadraces.de/?p=54567| access-date=4 March 2021}} Bergmann turned 100 in 2014.{{cite news|last=Michalek|first=Gerd|title=Gretel Bergmann ist 100 Jahre alt|language=German|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=April 12, 2014|url=http://www.dw.de/gretel-bergmann-ist-100-jahre-alt/a-17560816|access-date=April 23, 2014}} She died in 2017 at her home in Jamaica Estates, Queens, New York.

Life and career

Margarethe Bergmann was born in 1914 in Laupheim, Germany, the daughter of Edwin and Paula (née Stern) Bergmann,{{cite web|url=http://www.gedenk-buch.de/KAPITEL/17e%20BERGMANN%20Edwin.htm|title=The Jewish Community of Laupheim and its Annihilation|pages=116–24|website=Gedenk-buch.de|accessdate=September 10, 2017}} a businessman.{{cite book|title=Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics: with a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0KzECrIQDQC&pg=PA39|access-date=August 19, 2012|author=Taylor, Paul|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|year=2004|page=39|isbn = 9781903900888}}

She later began her career in athletics in Laupheim. In 1930 she joined Ulmer FV 1894, winning her first title in high jumping in 1931 when, during the South German Championships, she jumped 1.51 metres. She won that same title again in 1932. After the Nazis' accession to power on 30 January 1933 she was expelled from the club for being Jewish. That April her parents sent her to the United Kingdom where in 1934, where she took part in the British 1934 WAAA Championships and won the high jump event with a height of 1.55 metres.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003359/19340701/600/0021 |title=Women's A.A.A. Titles |work=Weekly Dispatch (London) |date=1 July 1934 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 January 2025 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=24 January 2025 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=24 January 2025 }}

The German government wanted her to return to Germany to help portray the nation as unbiased in its Olympic-team selections. Members of her family, who had stayed behind, were threatened with reprisals if she did not return. She complied and returned to Germany, where she was allowed to prepare for the 1936 Olympic Games. She won the Württembergian Championships in the high jump in 1935 and again on 30 June 1936 when, one month prior to the opening of the Olympic Games, she tied the German record by crossing 1.60 metres.{{cite web|title=Woman 95 gets record back|website=New York Daily News |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2009/11/24/2009-11-24_qns_woman_95_gets_olympic_record_back_after_36_nazi_team_replaced_her_with_man_h.html|accessdate=September 10, 2017}}

Bergmann-Lambert was banned from the Berlin Olympics despite matching the high-jump record of 1.60 metres (5 feet 3 inches) to qualify and having spent two years on the team, starting in 1934.{{cite web|title=Margarethe Bergmann|work=Jews in Sport|url=http://www.jewsinsports.org/Olympics.asp?sport=olympics&ID=2|access-date=November 25, 2009}} However, two weeks before the opening of the Olympics, she received a letter from the German sports authorities that she was being removed from the national team for under-performance.{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/german-film-helps-jewish-athlete-right-historical-wrong-1.3472|title=German film helps Jewish athlete right historical wrong|work=Haaretz|date=November 25, 2009|access-date=August 19, 2012|author=Hipsh, Rami}} She was not replaced; instead, Germany fielded only two high jumpers: Dora Ratjen, who was later revealed to be a man who had been raised as a girl, and Elfriede Kaun. Bergmann's accomplishment was stricken from the record books some weeks later.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

In 1937, Bergmann emigrated to the United States, settling in New York City, where she married Bruno Lambert, a physician. That year, she won the U.S. women's high jump and shot put championships, and in 1938 she again won the high jump. Her sports career ended after the entry of the United States into World War II. In 1942, she received United States citizenship.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

File:Gedenktafel Rudolstädter Str 77 (Wilmd) Gretel Bergmann.JPG. In translation, the plaque reads:

{{blockquote|In 1933, having jumped 1.51 m in Stuttgart and 1.55 m in Ulm, she was one of the best high jumpers inside Germany. On 27 June 1936, she tied the German record with 1.60 m and rose to world prominence. However, because of her Jewish origins, the Nazis prevented her from taking part in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In 1937 she left Germany forever.}}]]

Awards and recognition

File:Gretel-Bergmann-Stadion (Laupheim).jpg

Bergmann's entry into the Jewish Hall of Fame at Wingate Institute in Israel in 1980 revived interest in her story.[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bergmann-gretel Profile], Jewish Women's Archive website; accessed September 10, 2017.

In August 1995, a sports complex in Berlin-Wilmersdorf was named after her on the recommendation of the German National Sports Federation. Bergmann, who had vowed never to set foot on German soil again, did not attend the festivities. In 1996 she was admitted to the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in the United States. In 1999, she received the {{Interlanguage link|Georg von Opel-Preis|de|Georg von Opel-Preis|WD=}} for achievements in the sphere of sports and society without the prospect of material gains.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8PSCwAAQBAJ&q=Georg+von+Opel+Prize&pg=PT8|title=The Jewish Connection|last=Appel|first=Phyllis|date=2013-01-21|publisher=Graystone Enterprises LLC|isbn=9781301060931|language=en}}

The stadium in Laupheim, from which she had been barred in the 1930s, was named after her in 1999. This time Bergmann attended the dedication, saying:

{{blockquote|I was not going to participate, but when I was told that they were naming the facilities for me so that when young people ask, "Who was Gretel Bergmann?" they will be told my story, and the story of those times. I felt it was important to remember, and so I agreed to return to the place I swore I'd never go again. But I had stopped speaking German and didn't even try when I was there. They provided a translator.}}

Bergmann added, "I ... finally came to the conclusion that people now had nothing to do with it".*{{Cite news|last=Usborne|first=Simon|title=I watched the Games and hated every minute|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/i-watched-the-games-and-hated-every-minute-7987833.html|newspaper=The Independent|date=July 31, 2012|access-date=August 19, 2012}} In 2004, a documentary based on her life in Germany, Hitler's Pawn – The Margaret Lambert Story, mostly focusing on her athletic life, debuted on HBO prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

On 23 November 2009 her German national record (1.60m) from 1936 was officially restored by the German track and field association, which also requested she be admitted to the German sports hall of fame.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/24/gretel-bergmann-jewish-athlete-germany "Germany honours Jewish athlete banned from 1936 Olympics by Nazis"], The Guardian, November 24, 2009.{{cite news|title=Gal, 95, beats Nazis, has 1936 record restored|date=November 24, 2009|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gal_kOp1egQVYJYeAFsjjFSivK|work=New York Post|access-date=August 19, 2012}} In September 2009 Berlin 36, a film about her preparation for, and exclusion from, the 1936 Olympics, debuted in German theaters.

Honors

In August 2014, one of the streets in the Olympic Park Berlin (former Reichssportfeld) was renamed "Gretel-Bergmann-Weg"{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gretel-Bergmann-Weg,+14053+Berlin,+Germany/@52.5175658,13.2310773,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x47a85702c76ecaab:0xd1a8a1b992dd5b0|title=Google Maps|website=Google Maps|access-date=September 10, 2017}} in her honor.{{cite web|url=https://www.leichtathletik.de/news/news/detail/gretel-bergmann-weg-im-berliner-olympiapark-eingeweiht|title=Gretel Bergmann Weg im Berliner Olympiapark eingeweiht|website=Leichtathletik.de|last=Walker |first=Ewald |date=31 August 2014 |language=de |trans-title=Gretel Bergmann Weg dedicated in Berlin's Olympic Park |access-date=18 June 2021}}

References

In film

Die Angst sprang mit — Die jüdische Hochspringerin Gretel Bergmann (SWR, 2004 (TV documentary), [http://www.planet-schule.de/wissenspool/spuren-der-ns-zeit/inhalt/sendungen/die-angst-sprang-mit-die-juedische-hochspringerin-gretel-bergmann.html Inhaltsangabe])
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419812 Hitler's Pawn — The Margaret Lambert Story]. imdb.com; accessed September 10, 2017.
Berlin 36 — Die wahre Geschichte einer Siegerin. (Germany 2009), directed by Kaspar Heidelbach, Bergmann was portrayed by Karoline Herfurth
Der Traum von Olympia — Die Nazispiele von 1936 (ARD, 2016, television docudrama, [http://programm.ard.de/?sendung=2810618006335117&first=1 Inhaltsangabe]), Bergmann was portrayed by Sandra von Ruffin.

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20090506001655/http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/antisemitism/voices/transcript/?content=20080410 Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Margaret Lambert] from the [http://www.ushmm.org/ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]
[http://www.jewsinsports.org/Olympics.asp?ID=2 Gretel Bergmann webpage], jewsinsports.org
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061219040800/http://jewishsports.net/PillarAchievementBios/GretelBergmann.htm Gretel Bergmann infosite], jewishsports.net
[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bergmann-gretel Profile], Jewish Women's Archive (jwa.org)
[http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-germany-jumper11-2009nov11,0,808477.story "From Nazi pawn to U.S. champion"], Los Angeles Times

Category:1914 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:German women centenarians

Category:Jewish American track and field athletes

Category:American female high jumpers

Category:German female high jumpers

Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States

Category:People from Laupheim

Category:Athletes from Tübingen (region)

Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States

Category:International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees

Category:American women centenarians