Entangled: World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine, Governor General Hans Frank, and the National Socialist Regime

C. Rohrer
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Abstract

Whether or not world chess champion Alexander Alekhine was a “Nazi” is a question that the international chess community has been asking for decades. Beyond a series of anti-Semitic articles, however, little was known about his actions and behaviour during the Second World War, and the available information has been pieced together in a disjointed and incomprehensible way. The following article demonstrates that existing information and new sources combine to form a coherent narrative when Alekhine’s actions and behaviour are understood as a dual strategy by which he sought to regain his nearly ideal life before the outbreak of the Second World War. Indeed, his life in safety among the upper echelon of society as a recognised world chess champion was at stake. Alekhine saw an initial way out by pursuing a world championship match against José Raúl Capablanca and emigration to South America; he followed another avenue by approaching the National Socialist regime. Starting in March 1941, he chose to pursue both paths in parallel and in public view. Shortly after Capablanca’s death in March 1942, Alekhine entered into a contractual relationship with the Institute for German Eastern Work (Institut für Deutsche Ostarbeit, IDO) in Krakow, thanks to intervention on the part of Governor General (Generalgouverneur) Hans Frank himself. Until the fall of 1943, Alekhine essentially remained a playing chess master in the service of the Greater German Chess Federation (Großdeutscher Schachbund, GSB), which in turn was a compliant tool of the National Socialist regime. By promoting anti-Semitic propaganda in line with the regime’s position, Alekhine clearly crossed the line between chess and politics time and again.
纠缠:世界象棋冠军亚历山大·阿列克谢,总督汉斯·弗兰克和国家社会主义政权
国际象棋世界冠军亚历山大·阿列克谢(Alexander Alekhine)是否是“纳粹”,这是国际棋界几十年来一直在问的问题。然而,除了一系列反犹太文章之外,人们对他在第二次世界大战期间的行为知之甚少,现有的信息是以一种脱节和难以理解的方式拼凑在一起的。下面这篇文章表明,如果把阿列欣的行动和行为理解为他试图恢复第二次世界大战爆发前近乎理想的生活的双重战略,现有的信息和新的来源结合起来就形成了一个连贯的叙述。事实上,作为公认的国际象棋世界冠军,他在社会上层的安全生活受到了威胁。阿列克谢看到了最初的出路,他参加了一场与何塞·萨瓦布兰卡的世界冠军比赛,并移民到南美;他走了另一条路,与国家社会主义政权接触。从1941年3月开始,他选择在公众面前同时走这两条路。1942年3月卡帕布兰卡去世后不久,由于总督汉斯·弗兰克本人的干预,阿列克谢因与克拉科夫的德国东部工作研究所(Institut fr Deutsche Ostarbeit, IDO)建立了合同关系。直到1943年秋天,阿列克谢基本上仍然是一名国际象棋大师,为大德国国际象棋联合会(Großdeutscher Schachbund, GSB)服务,而该联合会反过来又成为国家社会主义政权的顺从工具。通过推动符合政权立场的反犹太主义宣传,阿列克谢显然一次又一次地越过了国际象棋和政治之间的界限。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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