The role of football in captivity of the Nazi German concentration camps based on the memories of Poles

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present what was the role of football in the Nazi German concentration camps of the Third Reich from the perspective of prisoners of Polish nationality. Football, as one of the most popular sports, was very important subject and activity for Poles who were imprisoned in the concentration camps of the Nazi Germany, despite inhuman conditions in which they lived. Based especially on memories of former prisoners we can conclude that football helped them to survive the difficulties of everyday life. The time of the football match was a substitute of normal life, which some of the prisoners remembered from the time before the Second World War and gave them a feeling of hope, freedom and justice by treating everyone equally. The football was used also for entertainment and propaganda purposes by the camp authorities.