Before Kowalski could answer, Sokov said first: "Is it related to football?"
"That's right, Mr. General!" Kowalski nodded and said with a sad and angry face: "It's a death game related to football."
"Tell me," Sokov looked at the other person and said, "I want to hear how the damn old German used football to kill people."
"Before the war broke out, football was the most popular sport among Poles. The stadiums were always full, and people would even climb trees to watch football. Because some people would scold the referees, and even dozens of police officers were needed to maintain order in the stands, but Even so, conflicts sometimes break out 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 game between the two countries.
At that time, football was a means of exchange of cultural friendship between the two countries. But with the outbreak of the war and the German occupation of Poland, Polish football was banned. "
Hearing this, Sokov asked in surprise: "What, football is banned in Poland, is it true?"
“Of course it’s true,” Kowalski said with certainty: “Although the Germans banned 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 blocked the first Polish Football League, which was officially launched in a park in southern Warsaw. There are a total of 8 teams participating in the competition, and the competition adopts a single round-robin format. If the two teams are tied within 90 minutes, there will be 30 minutes of overtime. If the game is still tied after 120 minutes, a replay will be held instead of a penalty kick to decide the winner.
The playing environment at that time was very bad, there was no grass field at all, and the playing field was full of dirt and rubble.
To hide from the eyes and ears of the German secret police, the players covered a wooden door frame they made themselves with clothes, making it look more like a clothes drying rack than a door frame. There is no net, and spontaneous referees will judge whether a goal is scored; people also dare not draw lines on the so-called court. The center line, penalty area, and sidelines can only be estimated by the players themselves. Sometimes the players bring the ball with them. Once the bottom line is exceeded, 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 from all over Poland to watch the game and cheer for the unyielding Polish spirit. Finally, the secret police got the message and sent troops to stop the league. Many players were arrested and then sent to concentration camps or shot directly. That's when I was caught and sent to Majindanek concentration camp. "
Sidorin couldn't help but interjected and asked: "After you were sent to the concentration camp, did 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.
Hermann Flowerstedt, the commander of the concentration camp at the time, was a senior football enthusiast. After learning that dozens of us were arrested by the secret police and sent to concentration camps for playing football, he formed a team of 30 people and took us everywhere to participate in competitions. "
"A team of 30 people." Sidorin said with some surprise: "There are really a lot of people."
After Sokov waited for Sidorin to finish speaking, he then asked: "Kowalski, I wonder where Hermann Flowerstedt took you to and what kind of team you played against?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Kowalski smiled bitterly and continued: "The teams we compete with are all teams composed of the German Wehrmacht or SS from all over Poland.
The rules of the game at that time were: If we beat the opponent, then everyone on the team would be shot. If the game is lost without losing a single goal, two participating players will be shot at random. "
"This German commander is simply a devil." Sidorin was so angry that he slapped his hands on the table and cursed: "If you win, shoot the whole team; if you lose, you have to shoot the players randomly. 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.”
Kowalski agreed with Sidorin's statement: "Yes, Mr. General, this is exactly the case. Due to the heavy psychological burden, the first game our team participated in was eliminated by the German Party. The Guards team played a 7-0 game, but all 11 players on the field were shot, and three substitutes were also shot."
"How were the substitute players who were shot selected?" Sokov asked.
"Draw lots." Kowalski said with a wry smile: "Herman Florstetter held a handful of bamboo sticks in his hand, and asked us to step forward to draw lots one by one. The substitute player with the shortest three sticks would be killed by them. Shot."
"Kowalski," Ponejelin couldn't help but ask after hearing this: "Has the team in your concentration camp ever won a game since its formation until now?"
Kowalski thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Won. Won twice!"
"Win twice?!" Ponjelin said with some surprise: "Didn't you say that if you win the game, the entire team, including the substitutes, will be shot? Since you have won twice, how do you survive? Came down?"
"Mr. General," Kowalski replied: "Maybe 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 Hermann Flor Staite appointed me as coach, and he selected able-bodied prisoners from the concentration camps to train and develop as reserve players.
Because I stayed in the concentration camp to train new players, I did not participate in the match between the team in Warsaw and Frankfurt in Germany. At first, the players were a little 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 guy would be them, so they let go. He used his hands and feet and launched an attack with all his strength.
After a fierce battle for 90 minutes, they finally overtook the team with a score of 3:2, defeating the invincible Frankfurt football team in one fell swoop. Hermann Florstetter felt that letting a group of inferior Poles defeat the noble Germans was an irrelevant thing, so he ordered all the players who went to Warsaw to participate in the war to be shot.
After all the players were shot, the first thing Hermann Flowerstedt did when he returned to the concentration camp was to speed up training and prepare to compete with a new team again in half a month. "
When Sokov heard this, he secretly thought: The Soviet Union failed in the 1952 World Cup, and most of the players on the participating teams were sent to Siberia to dig potatoes. It was not until Stalin died that he was pardoned by Khrushchev and returned to Russia. Returned to Moscow and continued their football careers.
Compared with these Polish players, they are undoubtedly lucky. Although they suffered some hardships, they at least saved their lives and can even return to the green field to engage in the career they love.
"It takes half a month to train a group of people who don't understand football into players and participate in the game." Sidorin 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 Sidorin's statement: "Just when I was worried, another A group of players were sent to concentration camps."
"Another group of players were sent to the concentration camp?" Sokov asked curiously: "Where did they come from? Could it be that after you were arrested and sent to the concentration camp, a new team emerged? Yet?"
"You are right, Mr. General." Kowalski nodded and said: "After players participating in the first football league were arrested or shot in large numbers, on May 20, 1941, eight more teams secretly The second football league was organized.
With the help of some patriots, the players came to the open space next to the Warsaw train station to play football. Although the gravel on the ground here makes it almost impossible for players to get down, the sound of the roaring train can cover up the noise of the game, and the nearby woods can also allow players to retreat in time after hearing the alarm.
They could play four games a day. Once it was known that German soldiers would be transported to the train station, the organizing committee would temporarily change the venue. During the game, the sentries responsible for keeping watch are more important than the referee and coach. As soon as they sound the alarm, the players will disperse and run away, and the fans will help them cover. The last league championship was won by the Bisk team of former UEFA Executive Committee member and Polish Football Association official Liski.
In 1943, under the tip of spies, the Germans discovered the headquarters of the Biske Club, arrested most of the players and key members of the club, and sent them to concentration camps. And these players I saw were players from Biske Club. I later heard that the surviving players, having escaped the limelight, formed a new Marymount Club team in its place. "
When Kowalski mentioned the Marymount Club, Sokov had an impression. With the end of the war, Marymount became Poland's first professional club after the war. The Polish Football Association awarded medals to the players who are still alive. The medal is a mermaid statue that symbolizes the tenacious spirit of the Polish people. After the war, most of the players of this team entered the Polish Football Association and became the heroes of the revival of Polish football.
"I once heard about such a thing in a prisoner of war camp." Ponedelin said: "After Germany occupied Kiev, it decided to hold a 'friendly match' with a local football team. In order to boost morale, Germany People are demanding that Ukrainian teams lose on purpose or they will execute the players.
Facing his 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 defeated the German team 5:3 in the end. The angry Germans executed all participating Ukrainian players, including many members of the Ukrainian Dynamo Kiev team. "
Sokov had some impressions of what Ponedelin said. In order to commemorate these players, a tall statue was erected outside the main stadium of Dynamo Kiev. In the 1960s and 1970s, this theme was written into books by many former Soviet writers and was widely disseminated. "The Great Escape" starring the famous American movie star Stallone, football king Pele and many European football stars is based on this "hero game".
"By the way, you said you won one game." Ponejelin asked: "The Germans who lost will definitely become angry and kill all of you, so why are you still alive?"
"Speaking of this, we are lucky." Kowalski said: "Before the game started, officials from the International Red Cross happened to come to inspect. In order to whitewash peace and beautify the concentration camp, the Germans won the game when we After that, no action was taken and we managed to save a life.
But after the Red Cross officials left, the Germans still tortured and killed the players who participated in that game for various reasons. So far, out of the 40 players who have participated in that game, I and one other player are the only ones left. "
"Where is that player?" Sokov asked. "Where is he now?"
"died."
"Dead?!" Sokov asked with shock on his face: "When did you die?"
"today!"
After listening to Kowalski's words, Sokov couldn't help but feel a trace of anger on his face. He didn't expect that the Germans actually massacred the prisoners in the concentration camp before escaping.
"Mr. General," Kowalski noticed something was wrong with Sokov's expression and quickly explained: "That player was not killed by the Germans. At least he was still alive when the Germans escaped."
The other player was still alive and well when the Germans escaped. Sokov realized that the matter was not simple and might have something to do with 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 took the initiative to say hello."
"Then how did he die?" Sidorin couldn't help but ask: "Was he killed by our people?"
"no."
"Neither the Germans killed him, nor our people." Sidorin said impatiently: "Did he die from being stuffed to death?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Kowalski nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, Mr. General, he was really stretched to death."
"What's going on? How could you be strangled to death?"
"That's it, Mr. General." Kowalski explained to the three of them: "At that time, one of your soldiers gave him a piece of black bread." He gestured with his hand, "It was about the size of a brick."
Sokov looked at the size of his gesture. It was not as big as a brick, but it was clearly as big as a stone, okay? The prisoners in the concentration camps were in a state of semi-starvation for a long time. It would be strange if they could eat such a large piece of bread at once and not be starved to death.
Kowalski continued: "When I saw that he was full, an officer next to him kindly handed him a bottle of water and asked him to drink some water to see if he could recover."
"How can a person drink water after eating to fullness?" Ponjelin shook his head and said: "The stomach is already full, but when you drink water, the bread will swell and occupy a larger area. Weird."
Sokov chatted with Andrei and Kowalski for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, he called the officer who sent them here and ordered him: "Take them to find an empty house nearby to live in." Next, let them take a good bath and eat something. Remember, don’t overeat.”
