By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 52 minutes ago, Updated 42 minutes ago
Stone coubertin. @TheOlympicGames
An emblematic figure of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin sent a letter to Hitler in 1937 to thank him.
A letter from Pierre de Coubertin, the promoter of the modern Olympic Games, to Adolf Hitler in 1937 is reproduced in a book which appears this Friday, attesting according to the author of the work, that he “there was a good relationship between the two men”. The latter appears in “Pierre de Coubertin, the man who did not invent the Olympic Games”by journalist Aymeric Mantoux, published by Editions du Faubourg.
This letter was unpublished in a French publication. It comes from the archives of the Third Reich, from which the German historian Hans Joachim Teichler extracted it. “He is a researcher who revisited the entire history of sports in Germany in the 20th century. He found this letter which proves that, contrary to what Coubertin’s family and the IOC – International Olympic Committee – say, there was indeed a relationship between the two men.explained Mr. Mantoux to AFP.
A letter of thanks
Dated March 17, 1937, the letter thanks the German regime for its contribution to its “jubilee year”, namely 50 years of its action to promote sport. Historians have found traces of payments from Nazi Germany to an endowment fund set up by Pierre de Coubertin to continue his work. And the Third Reich was preparing to open a “International Olympic Institute”.
Pierre de Coubertin, who was 73 years old at the time of the Berlin Olympics in 1936, did not go there. “We do not know why. The Berlin Games are, however, the pinnacle of what he wanted to do.”, notes the author of this critical biography. During the inauguration ceremony, failing to have the Frenchman in the stadium, the organizers broadcast his voice over the loudspeakers.
The man remains known for his very conservative opinions. He refused the professionalization of sport, as well as its feminization, and believed in“superior essence” of “the white race”. “I don’t think he espoused the Nazi ideology of eradicating the enemies of the Aryan race”underlines Aymeric Mantoux. “But between his vision and that of the Third Reich, we find common points, around the desire to revitalize a Nation through sport”.
Pierre de Coubertin, who should join the Grévin museum in Paris in July, is also little highlighted in the communication from the organizers of the Paris Olympics (July 26-August 11)
