Betty leaned in and read, “‘We appeal to all women participating in the Games. What would the Olympic Games be if the women athletes were to refuse to take part?’” She stared out their cabin’s porthole for a moment. “This group believes that we have a voice, that we have some power?”
Helen didn’t know how to respond to Betty’s distress. All the anxiety of fund-raising had diverted their attention from the boycott, but now aboard the ship, on their way to Berlin, they had time to think. And worry.
Dee said, “I heard something about letters back in the New York hotel rooms urging you all to boycott.”
“Well, we’re all here, aren’t we? It sure looks like everyone’s decided to compete.”
“But have these resistance groups been in touch with you? Does anyone seem to be wavering on their commitment to this team? Has anyone said anything about it?”
“Have you asked some of the girls? You’re pretty tight with all of your runners from St. Louis. Surely Harriet will tell you anything you want to know.”
“How about Eleanor Holm Jarrett? Is she talking about boycotting?”
Helen pictured the glamorous swimmer. Eleanor and Betty often sat on the deck chairs together, smoking and stretching their lean tanned limbs, reminiscing about Amsterdam. Eleanor was married to a nightclub owner back in Los Angeles and a ring with a diamond the size of a golf ball glittered on the hand in which she held her Lucky Strike. “I don’t know. The only thing I’ve heard her complain about are the frumpy team bathing suits. She hasn’t said anything to me about boycotting, but we’re not particularly close.”
“Good, she’s a troublemaker. You’d be wise to keep your distance.” Dee folded her arms across her chest. “I thought maybe you could help me keep an eye on the girls.”
“Why me?”
“You’re our most talented sprinter. Whether you know it or not, this puts you in a position of leadership. The girls look to you.”
Helen doubted that. If anything, Betty was the group’s leader. Her skepticism must have shown because Dee hurried on to say, “It also means you have the most at stake. If something goes wrong and our team can’t compete, what are you going to do then?”
The hairs on the back of Helen’s neck rose. “I guess I’d be back at William Woods.”
“Stuck back in Fulton. What then?”
Helen blinked. It was true. What would she do? Helen Stephens Day would be forgotten. Once again, she’d simply be too tall, too awkward. Too different. She needed things to go well in Berlin, but she certainly had no plans to become a rat to Dee.
“So, you’ll tell me?” Dee asked.
Helen shivered and her legs throbbed. “Do you know anything about Hitler? Do you know what he’s doing over there?”
“Mr. Brundage says he’s simply rebuilding Germany, that he’s an ally of ours.”
“People are disappearing. He’s advocating violence and discrimination. He’s dangerous.”
“Don’t be naive, Helen. No place is perfect. Everyone’s getting a fair shot at these Games. We’ve been promised that. I need you to help me make sure that none of the girls get cold feet. Mr. Brundage is concerned about the boycott rumors. The last thing we want is for this team to arrive in Germany and fall apart. Do you understand?”
Helen considered. If they all went, competed, and did well, Hitler would be taken down a few pegs. Maybe people would stop believing in him. She nodded slowly and rose to leave.
“Good girl,” Dee said, but Helen brushed her away.
If Dee wanted to ignore all the bad news coming out of Germany, she was on her own. Helen had her own things to worry about.
THE CHICAGO EVENING STANDARD
July 19, 1936
“Jewish Athlete Dropped from German Olympic Team”
London—Two weeks before the Olympics are set to open in Berlin, Germany has dropped high-jumping champion Gretel Bergmann from its national team. Miss Bergmann rose to preeminence in southern Germany and set several records until being expelled as a member from her athletic club for being Jewish. At that point, the Bergmanns moved to London and Gretel enrolled in London Polytechnic and competed in the high jump for her college. In 1934, she won the British Championships in the high jump.
Under international pressure to show goodwill to its Jewish citizens, the German government invited her back to compete for her native country, so Miss Bergmann returned to Germany to ensure the safety of her remaining family members and to support other Jewish athletic clubs. Although she won the Württembergian Championships, tying the German record of 5 feet 3 inches, she has been notified by German authorities that her inclusion on the German Olympic team has been denied on the grounds of “underperformance.”
In response to criticism that the National Socialist Party has received over its discriminatory policies, Germany has been citing Miss Bergmann’s participation on the German team as evidence that all athletes are welcomed to compete safely in the upcoming Olympics, but her dismissal from the team only raises more questions about the authenticity of this claim.
Only half-Jewish German-born Helene Mayer, a fencer, will compete for the Reich, though she currently resides in California.
This news of Bergmann’s rejection becomes public as the American Olympic team is more than halfway across the Atlantic en route to Berlin. When asked to comment on Miss Bergmann’s dismissal, American Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage had no comment. Jeremiah T. Mahoney, former president of the American Athletic Union, said, “Until the Nazi regime has ended, the American people will have no reason to believe that the true spirit of sportsmanship, to which the Olympic Games are devoted, can find expression in Germany.”
In December 1935, when the AOC debated supporting an official boycott of the Olympics in Berlin, the resolution failed to pass by only three votes.
46.
July 19, 1936
Aboard the S.S. Manhattan
IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT WHEN LOUISE AWOKE TO A POUNDING upon her door. At first, the knocking sounded faint, but as she surfaced from the
