Red Moscow

  Chapter 2045 Dead Football

   Before Kowalski could answer, Sokov said first: "Is it related to football?"

   "That's right, Mr. General!" Kowalski nodded and said with grief and indignation: "It's a death game related to football."

   "Let's hear it," Sokov looked at the other party and said, "I want to hear how the **** German uses football to kill people."

"Before the war broke out, football was the most popular sport among Poles. The stadium was always full. People even climbed trees to watch football. Because some people would scold the referee, the order in the stands even required dozens of policemen to maintain it, but Even so, conflicts sometimes erupted between fans.

  In the 1934 World Cup, although Poland failed to qualify, the German team came to Poland to hold a warm-up match. Tens of thousands of German fans came to Warsaw to watch the match between the two countries.

  In that era, football was a means of communication between the two countries' cultural friendship. But with the outbreak of war, after Germany occupied Poland, football in Poland was banned. "

  Hearing this, Sokov asked in surprise: "What, football is banned in Poland, is it true?"

   "Of course it is true." Kowalski said affirmatively: "Although the Germans banned the Poles from playing football, the Poles who love football continue to play football at the risk of being executed.

   On May 20, 1940, players from all over Poland spontaneously stopped the first Polish Football League, which was officially launched in a park in the south of Warsaw. There are a total of 8 teams participating in the competition, and the game adopts a single round-robin system. If the two teams are tied within 90 minutes, there will be 30 minutes of extra time. If there is still a tie after 120 minutes, a replay will be played instead of a penalty kick.

  The game environment was terrible. There was no grass field at all, and the playing field was full of dirt and rubble.

   To avoid the eyes and ears of the German secret police, the players put clothes on a wooden door frame they made themselves, making it look more like a drying rack than a door frame. There is no net, and it is up to the spontaneous referee to judge whether a goal is scored; people dare not draw lines on the so-called court. The center line, penalty area and sideline can only be estimated by the players themselves. Sometimes the players take the ball with them. Out of the bottom line, no one cares.

  At the beginning of this secret league, there were only a dozen spectators, but as more and more people got the news, they came to watch the game from various places in Poland, cheering for the unyielding Polish spirit. Finally, the secret police got word and they sent troops to stop the league. Many players were arrested and then sent to various concentration camps or directly shot. That's when I was caught and sent to Majdanek concentration camp. "

  Sidorin couldn't help interjecting and asked: "After you are sent to a concentration camp, will you still have a chance to play football?"

   "Yes, Mr. General." Kowalski nodded and said: "After I entered the concentration camp, I did have many opportunities to play football, but this was the beginning of my nightmare.

  The commander of the concentration camp at the time, Herman Florstedt, was a senior football fan. Knowing that dozens of us were arrested by the secret police and sent to concentration camps because of playing football, he formed a team of 30 people and took us everywhere to participate in games. "

   "A team of 30 people." Sidolin said with some surprise: "That's a lot of people."

   After waiting for Sidolin to finish speaking, Sokov asked, "Kowalski, I don't know where Herman Florstedt will take you, and what kind of team will you play against?"

  Hearing Sokov's question, Kowalski smiled wryly and continued: "The teams we played against were all teams from the German Wehrmacht or SS from all over Poland.

  The rule of the game at that time was: If we win the opponent, then everyone in the team will be shot. If the game is lost, without losing a goal, two players will be shot at random. "

"This German commander is simply a devil." Sidolin slapped the table angrily, and cursed: "If you win, you will shoot the whole team; if you lose, you will randomly shoot the participating players. If you lose a game Six goals, in addition to shooting all the players on the field, a substitute player must be brought in to make up the number."

Regarding Sidolin's statement, Kowalski agreed: "Yes, Mr. General, this is exactly the case. Due to the heavy psychological burden, the first game our team participated in was defeated by the German party. The defender's team played a 7-0 game, but all 11 players were shot, and three substitute players were also shot."

   "How did they choose the substitute players who were shot?" Sokov asked.

"Draw lots." Kowalski said with a wry smile: "Herman Florstedt is holding a handful of bamboo sticks in his hand, let us step forward to draw lots one by one, and the shortest three substitute players will be drawn by them." shot."

   "Kowalski," Ponegerin couldn't help asking after hearing this: "Has the team in your concentration camp ever won a game since its establishment?"

  Kowalski thought for a while, then nodded and said, "I have won. I have won twice!"

"Win twice?!" Bornejelin said with some surprise: "Didn't you say that if you win the game, the whole team including the substitutes will be shot? Since you won twice, how did you live?" down?"

"Mr. General," Kowalski replied, "probably because too many people were shot, the number of players in the team was getting smaller and smaller, and there were not enough players to participate in new games. So Herman Flor Steit appointed me as a coach to select able-bodied prisoners from concentration camps for training and training as reserve players.

  Because I stayed in the concentration camp to train new players, I didn't participate in the team's match between Warsaw and Frankfurt Football Club in Germany. At the beginning, the players were a bit reluctant to let go, but after conceding two goals in a row, the players on the field thought that at least four people would be shot at the end of the game anyway, and maybe that unlucky ghost was themselves, so they let go With all his hands and feet, he launched an attack with all his strength.

   After 90 minutes of fierce offensive, they finally overtook with a score of 3:2 and defeated the mighty Frankfurt football team in one fell swoop. And Hermann Florstedt felt that letting a group of inferior Poles defeat the noble Germans was something irrelevant to everyone, so he ordered all the players who went to Warsaw to participate in the war to be shot.

   After shooting all the players, the first thing Hermann Florstedt did when he returned to the concentration camp was to let me speed up the training, preparing to play against the new team again in half a month. "

Hearing this, Sokov thought to himself: The Soviet Union failed in the 1952 World Cup. Most of the players in the participating team were sent to Siberia to dig potatoes. It was not until Stalin died that Khrushchev pardoned him, and he returned to the Soviet Union. Back to Moscow to continue their football career.

  Compared with these Polish players, they are undoubtedly lucky. Although they suffered some hardships, they at least saved their lives, and even returned to the green field to engage in the career they love.

   "It is necessary to train a group of people who don't understand football into players and participate in the competition within half a month." Sidolin said with emotion: "This is not an easy task."

"Yes, it is indeed not easy to form a team within half a month." Kowalski agreed with Sidolin's statement: "Just when I was worried, A group of players were sent to concentration camps."

"Another batch of players were sent to a concentration camp?" Sokov asked curiously, "Where did they come from? Could it be that after you were arrested and sent to a concentration camp, a new team emerged? Yet?"

"You are right, Mr. General." Kowalski nodded and said: "After the players who participated in the first football league were arrested or shot in large numbers, on May 20, 1941, another eight teams secretly Organized the second football league.

   With the help of some patriots, the players came to the open space next to the Warsaw Railway Station to play football. Although the ground is full of gravel, it is almost impossible for players to get off the ground, but the sound of roaring trains can cover up the noise of the game, and the small woods next to it can also allow players to retreat in time after hearing the alarm.

   They can play 4 games a day. Once they know that the train station will transport German soldiers, the organizing committee will temporarily change the venue. During the game, the post responsible for letting the wind out is more important than the referee and the coach. As soon as they sound the alarm, the players will disperse and flee, and the fans will help them cover. The last league championship was won by the Bisk team of Liski, a former member of the UEFA Executive Committee and official of the Polish Football Association.

  In 1943, under the informant of the spies, the Germans discovered the headquarters of the Bisk Club, arrested most of the players and the backbone of the club and sent them to concentration camps. And the players I saw were from the Bisk Club. I later heard that the surviving players hid the limelight and formed a new Marymount club team in place. "

  As soon as Kowalski mentioned the Marymount Club, Sokov had some impressions. With the end of the war, Marymount Club became the first post-war Polish professional club. The Polish Football Association awarded medals to the players who are still alive. The medal pattern is the mermaid statue that symbolizes the indomitable spirit of the Polish people. After the war, most of the players of this team entered the Polish Football Association and became the contributors to the revival of Polish football.

"I heard about such a thing in a prisoner-of-war camp." Pornejelin said: "After Germany occupied Kyiv, it decided to hold a 'friendly match' with a local football team. In order to achieve the purpose of boosting morale, Germany Some people demand that the Ukrainian team lose on purpose, otherwise they will execute these players.

   Facing the hometown elders on the field, the captain of the Ukrainian team said to his teammates: ‘There are some things that are worth our lives. ’ As a result, they finally defeated the German team 5:3. The furious Germans executed all the participating Ukrainian players one after another, including many members of the Ukrainian Kyiv Dynamo team. "

  Sokov has some impressions of what Ponejielin said. In order to commemorate these players, a tall statue was erected outside the main stadium of Dynamo Kyiv. In the 1960s and 1970s, this subject was written into books by many former Soviet writers and spread widely. The "Victory Escape" starring the famous American movie star Stallone, football king Bailey and many European football stars is based on this "hero game".

   "By the way, you said that you still won a game." Pornegering asked: "The Germans who lost the game will definitely become angry and kill you all, so why are you still alive?"

"Speaking of this, we were lucky." Kowalski said: "Before the game started, officials from the International Red Cross just came to inspect. The Germans wanted to whitewash the peace and beautify the concentration camp. After that, no action was taken, and we managed to save a life.

  But after the officials of the Red Cross left, the Germans still tortured and killed the players who participated in that game for various reasons. Of the 40 players who have played in that game so far, it's just me and one other player. "

   "Where is that player?" Sokov asked, "Where is he now?"

"died."

   "Dead?!" Sokov asked in shock, "When did you die?"

"Nowadays!"

  After listening to Kowalski's words, Sokov couldn't help showing a trace of anger on his face. He didn't expect the Germans to slaughter the prisoners in the concentration camp before they fled.

   "Mr. General," Kowalski noticed that Sokov's face was not right, and quickly explained: "The Germans didn't kill that player. At least he was still alive when the Germans fled."

   Another player was alive and well when the Germans fled. Sokov realized that this matter was not simple, and it might be related to his subordinates, so he asked tentatively: "So, when my troops entered the concentration camp, he was still alive and well?"

   "Yes," Kowalski nodded. "He speaks Russian well. When he saw your troops entering the concentration camp, he even went up to say hello."

   "Then how did he die?" Sidolin couldn't help asking, "was he killed by our people?"

"no."

   "It was neither killed by the Germans, nor by our people." Sidolin said impatiently, "Could it be that he was full to death?"

   Unexpectedly, just after he finished speaking, Kowalski nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, Mr. General, he is really overwhelmed."

   "What's going on, how could you be overwhelmed?"

   "It's like this, Mr. General." Kowalski explained to the three people: "At that time, one of your soldiers gave him a piece of black bread." He gestured with his hand, "It's about the size of a brick."

  Sokov looked at the size of his gestures, where it is not as big as a brick, it is obviously as big as a stone, okay? Prisoners in concentration camps were in a state of semi-starvation for a long time, and it was no wonder that they were not stuffed to death after eating such a large piece of bread.

  Kowalski continued: "Seeing that he was full, an officer next to him kindly handed him a jug of water and asked him to drink some water to see if he could recover."

"How can a person drink water when he is full of food?" Ponegerin shook his head and said, "The stomach is already full, but as soon as you drink water, the bread will swell and occupy a larger area. Strange."

Sokov chatted with Andrei and Kowalski for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, he called the officer who brought them here and told him, "Take them to find an empty house nearby. Next, let them take a good bath and eat something. Remember, don't eat too much."

  (end of this chapter)