In addition to Harry (m.) and Meghan (r.), the Invictus Games were primarily about the Bundeswehr.
Photo: imago/Avalon
Tens of students armed with their smartphones scurry across the Invictus Games grounds between the Düsseldorf football stadium and the athletics hall. »Dude, where is Harry? I want a photo with him,” one hears from a young girl, no older than 14, who stands out from a group of students because of her flashy appearance. “The prince is so cute,” another student says to her comrades as the reporter passes her. Her goal should also be a selfie with Prince Harry.
The so-called Invictus Games, which are being held in Germany for the first time since they were founded nine years ago, are not about the prince, the initiator of the international military games, or royal celebrities.
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First and foremost, it should be about soldiers who are mentally and physically wounded, injured and sick. The aim of the organizers, as we read everywhere, is to “give greater recognition and recognition in society for these soldiers and to support their path to rehabilitation.” Honorable. Grateful. These soldiers and veterans served their countries and NATO goals in dangerous and secret missions abroad. Including, of course, our brave soldiers from the Bundeswehr. They sacrifice themselves so that we can live in peace and freedom. Naturally. In keeping with this, the Federal Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl (SPD), is calling for more appreciation for soldiers and veterans. She supports the idea of an annual Veterans Day in Germany, as recently discussed by the German Bundeswehr Association. A touch of Anglo-Saxon veteran cult is in the air.
Soldiers, the Bundeswehr with numerous stands and other defense organizations can be seen in abundance around the Invictus Games site; After all, the Bundeswehr is the main organizer and the Ministry of Defense is the main financier with almost 40 million euros. That’s why the Bundeswehr answers the question about the importance of the games as follows: “From the Bundeswehr’s point of view, the Invictus Games are an integral part of the individual rehabilitation of soldiers who have suffered physical or mental damage in action and service or through illness. The aim of rehabilitation is complete reintegration into service.«
Friedhelm Julius Beucher, President of the German Disabled Sports Association, makes a similar statement: »I see it as our society’s duty and responsibility that we support those who defend democracy around the world and have suffered a serious injury or disability in the process. We cannot leave these people behind. Sport and competition have the potential to contribute to a better quality of life. The association is therefore supporting the Bundeswehr at the games in Düsseldorf with material, know-how and by providing contact with referees, officials and the sports structures of people with disabilities.
In fact, it appears from two visits to the Invincible Games and countless conversations with spectators and soldiers that the event, dedicated purely to disabled soldiers and veterans under the motto “A Home For Respect,” is a major PR campaign for War, military and Bundeswehr. Significantly sponsored by the unscrupulous US defense companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin. And the city of Düsseldorf is eagerly participating – apparently without hesitation.
Fortunately, there are also critical voices who often get far too little attention in such newfangled and exaggerated events, which often do not live up to the goals they have set for themselves. “The Invictus Games are being misused for propaganda purposes, with Boris Pistorius calling for unceasing support for Ukraine at the opening and thus prolonging the war instead of enabling negotiation initiatives,” said Martin Singe from the “Rheinmetall indignant!” initiative when asked.
Didem Aydurmuş from the board of the Left says: “The intention to support people with war injuries or trauma is important, but a public spectacle of this kind trivializes wars. The motto raises the important question of what we should have respect for and, more generally, about the foreign policy role of the Federal Republic. We are still one of the largest arms exporters and are therefore directly responsible for the death and misery of millions of people.” Singe also finds a Veterans Day absurd: “What we need is a federal day of reflection for the peace mandate of the Basic Law instead of propaganda and trivialization of war.”
As you move from competition to competition – some lack a specific competition schedule – and across the extensive grounds with the many Bundeswehr recruiting stands, the question arises as to the usefulness of the games, which attract soldiers and veterans from 21 countries, primarily from the West. compete against each other in 500 competitions in ten disciplines. There are no injured soldiers from Afghanistan or Iraq. So it becomes an almost exclusively Western military sporting event that is suspected of glorifying war and heroizing soldiers who have to kill people.
Aren’t the Paralympic Games or other inclusive competitions such as the recent Canoe World Championships in Duisburg enough so that soldiers and veterans can also compete in sport and feel meaning again in their lives that have been restricted or in some cases destroyed by war? The sports policy spokesman for the left-wing faction in the Bundestag, André Hahn, puts it this way: “With the Paralympics, Deaflympics and Special Olympics as well as other inclusive and disability-specific opportunities in organized sport, there are already good offers for former military members with disabilities.” Hahn recommends this Federal President to withdraw patronage for this “scandalous military sporting spectacle”.
»The Paralympic Games are a sporting event for physically disabled competitive athletes. Psychological damage is not taken into account here,” argues the Bundeswehr, which provides 31 soldiers in Team Germany, which consists of 37 athletes. The rest come from so-called blue light organizations such as fire departments, which are allowed to be part of the German team for the first time.
It is said again and again, including in reports on public broadcasting, that the Invictus Games would give wounded soldiers a stage and a new goal in life – back to life through sport or back into the army. But is the wounded and sick athlete – half of the participants mentally ill from post-traumatic stress disorder – really the focus? Or the Bundeswehr? Or is it Harry?
What always stands out: Bundeswehr, Bundeswehr and Bundeswehr. Plus: merchandising and marketing stands as well as the seemingly constant announcements from the stadium announcer to just secure a souvenir from the games. In English, the language of the West. The reporter does not notice on the two days that interviews are being conducted with the wounded or sick soldiers or veterans or that they are having their say.
The wheelchair rugby game between Australia and “Team unconquered” – nothing more needs to be said – attracted around 200 spectators in the football stadium, which was perfectly converted for the games. Sitting in wheelchairs, the players of a team throw the ball to each other in order to get it to the opposing side of the field as often as possible. The players move extremely quickly in their wheelchairs, which are specially designed for the discipline, ramming and pushing each other. After ten minutes the match is over, it is 16 to 7 for Australia.
Neither this discipline nor the athletics competitions really blow your mind, although the athletes’ achievements cannot be praised enough. It’s great how a former Romanian combat diver, despite being almost completely paralyzed, still dares to go back into the water with the help of trainers and takes part in swimming competitions. Or the numerous athletes who, despite a complex mental illness, do not avoid crowds and stand in front of an audience and cameras as their husband or wife.
Every single fate of the athletes who look more happy than tense into the cameras during competitions is deplorable. Nevertheless, everyone more or less voluntarily decided to join the military and be sent into combat missions. And getting hurt or killed. Did the students actually meet the former soldier Prince Harry – who shot 25 people in Afghanistan and whose reception on the opening day in Düsseldorf cost 281,000 euros – to get a selfie?
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