Biographies
may turn out to be just about anything; they come as pack of lies, as means to
drop names, as a way to shift blame to others, or as a collection of pointless anecdotes.
Every once in a while, a biography is published that stands out presenting a riveting life's story. The biography written about Bert Trautmann is one of the latter.
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| Manchester City with Bert Trautmann |
Bernhard
Trautmann was born in Bremen, Germany, in 1923. The German economy had not
really recovered from the Great War and was already in a downturn again. By
1931, the economy was a shamble. And in 1933, Hitler took over. Bernhard was
10.
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| Hitler Youth |
Boys of that age usually are interested in sports, flags, uniforms, and parades. Hitler drew up his Hitler Youth movement on exactly these premises and was rewarded with 98 percent of the targeted boys joining it (and there was no opting out clause offered, either). The brain-washing of a whole generation could begin. The boys were programmed to respect nothing but Nazism and the Fuhrer. The oath the boys swore in the Hitler Youth can still make your blood freeze: “In the presence of the blood banner, I swear to devote all my powers and my strength to the savior of our Reich, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God.”
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| Hitler Youth |
Bert Trautmann
was a sporty boy, thereby easily exalted, guided, and molded. When it was time
for him to join the army, he was a picture book Nazi. He was sent to the Eastern Front, and survived. He was awarded two Iron Crosses for bravery and
rose from the ranks first to Corporal, then to Sergeant.
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| Hitler Youth |
A month
before the war ended, he was captured by the Americans who let him go by mistake. Later
that day, he was apprehended by the British who sat him under a tree and told
him to shut his trap. When they handed him a cup of water to drink, he didn't
comprehend why they were doing this. Everything the British did was strange to
him, the way they bantered and laughed, and the way they answered back their
officers.
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| Hitler Youth |
He was
transported to Britain and there to the reception area at Kempton racecourse and from there to a
camp in Cheshire. He was considered a convinced Nazi due to his long
association with Hitler Youth and sent to a special camp near Cambridge. The camp
was dedicated to younger Germans considered to having been brain washed as
children.
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| Hitler Youth |
Britain’s
government had decided to re-educate the Germans into shedding their allegiance
to Nazism and get them on course for a sort of democracy. It proved to be a
long process, especially as the fast learners were usually found hanged in the
toilets. Bert Trautmann’s redemption started with a film on Bergen-Belsen concentration camp being
shown to the prisoners. Unlike others, he had seen a mass grave in Ukraine, and
therefore was ready to accept the reality of the film.
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| Hitler Youth |
He was
completely won over by British kindness and forgiveness. In 1946, a local choir
came to the camp to sing Christmas songs in both English and German, and Bert Trautmann ended up in tears. He became one of 24,000 Germans to stay on in
Britain helping to rebuild the country. He changed his name to Bert. And he was
offered a footballing job with St Helen’s Town football club.
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| Manchester City with Bert Trautmann |
In 1949,
he prepared to go back to Germany on a holiday for the first time. He was
presented with a trunk full of food and provisions for his family, and £50 for
his parents, all collected from St Helen’s supporters. But when Manchester City signed him on as goal keeper a year later, 25,000 people demonstrated
against his appointment and there were catcalls of Heil Hitler in the stadium. A letter from the chief Rabbi of Manchester to a local newspaper begged fans not to rush any judgement. Bert Trautmann would become legend.
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| Bert Trautmann with broken neck |
Bert Trautmann lived the later years of his life in Spain and died on the 19th July, 2013, aged 89. In 2004, he had received the OBE for his work in bettering Anglo-German relations.
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| Queen Elizabeth II and Bert Trautmann |
Catrine
Clay’s Trautmann’s Journey was published by Yellow Jersey Press. She acted as
the writer who put down the memories of Bert Trautmann. The book could have
done without her deviations into the many assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler
which add nothing to the story. The story all on its own was riveting enough.
All the same, a book I highly recommend.
Further reading
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