Short Stuff: POW Olympics | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. hey and welcome to the short stuff I'm. Charles wait I'm Josh there's Charles. wow this is off to a good start already. this is short stuff Jerry's here too. yada yada let's go all right this is. about the P Olympics M we're going to. hop in the old Wayback machine and go. back to. 1944 in venberg in Western Poland mhm.

where uh polish Military Officers were. being held captive as PS by the Nazis. but the Nazis were like hey be glad. you're here cuz it's not so bad we treat. you guys pretty well we adhere to the. Geneva Convention for the most part and. if you'll notice there are no death. Chambers and things like that here uh. you've got an orchestra you're taking. classes treat us well after the war cuz. I I think I see where this whole thing's.

headed yeah did you did you say that the. PS were all officers I did okay so that. that that was why this um p camp was. called off log. 2C off log is derived from a German word. I think it might be slang for an officer. prison. camp yeah it's kind of like the Great. Escape okay sure remember they had it. pretty easy in that camp right so yeah I. think there was there were a lot of. political reasons why they were taking.

it easy on them and following the Geneva. Convention um but doesn't it just feel. dirty to give the Nazis credit for. anything no for sure but I think it was. one of those cases where I wasn't really. joking when I said they were like hey. remember this after the war CU they were. trying to set themselves up for um being. treated okay after the war and also to. draw comparisons to at the time Russian. prison camps and saying like they're the. they're the really bad ones um this one.

isn't so bad specifically here yeah in. Poland so um part of that was allowing. an Olympic Games to be held at. waldenberg um it was a a p Olympics that. was organized and carried out in. cooperation with the German captors that. were supposed to be in London and then. got cancelled and then popped up again. in the at the waldenberg p. camp yeah I doubt if the.

the real Olympic Games people knew about. it although you never know you never. know I mean we know about it so well I. know that I know that the Chinese held a. 1952 P Olympics at um at a a camp in. Korea in North Korea um with Korean War. captives as a huge propaganda coup like. they kept records they followed the ioc. uh instructions to a te and they let the. world know about it so I would wouldn't.

be surprised if the Nazis told people. that this was going on as a a PR thing. yeah and since we're talking about other. P Olympics got to talk about 1940 uh. because they were supposed to be in. Tokyo uh World War II was just getting. cranking up there so they moved it to. Helsinki Finland and then they canceled. those all together and there was a. German p camp in Long FASA Germany um. that had they they called it the. international prisoner of war games but. that one was a little bit different that.

one was in secret uh there would have. been penalties uh by the German captors. for for holding that Olympic so somehow. uh they they managed to pull off a a. secret Olympics amazing in 1940 yeah I. guess the the captors just thought they. were watching a basketball game or. something like that yeah maybe and that. weird Olympic flag with the Rings was I. don't know just for fun yeah uh let's. take a break.

chuck all right let's do. it. Chuck the stop you should. [Music]. know all right so gez we've now covered.

very quickly two Olympic game p Olympic. games but we're going to go back to the. one in. 1944 uh in. fenur because they like you said had the. permission of the Nazis to do this and. it was uh it kind kind of became one of. those stories of the war kind of like. the the Christmas where the ceasefire. happened on Chistmas truths yeah and. they got together it's sort of has that. air about it man that's just such an. amazing story.

it was um so yeah they uh they are. probably the most famous long longer and. waldenberg are about the most famous of. all the P games um so we know the most. about them uh and waldenberg um they. they had a bunch of different events. like they really kind of followed the. Olympics at the time to a te um there. was soccer AKA football handball. basketball track and field um but there. were some events that they're like we're. going to draw the line at that because.

we don't trust you still this is a p. camp yeah it's pretty funny of course. they were like maybe nothing where you. shoot an. arrow uh so archery was out they said. maybe nothing where you hold a sword so. fencing was out M and then they spear. while we're at it let's get rid of the. javelin MH cuz I'm imagine that would. not feel good in the chest and it seems. to me that uh practicing for pole vating.

is just another way of saying practicing. for uh getting over that fence over. there. right tough to slip it past them while. you're were having an Olympics they also. had to say no boxing not because there. was any um they were worried about it. getting beaten up I guess by The Boxers. they were worried about the boxers. killing one another because they were. again even though they were officers. these were held in P camps and so the. boxers were essentially too frail to box. it was just too dangerous for the Box. ERS yeah and we can't not mention the.

great great uh World War II soccer film. Victory with Sylvester. Stallone and Michael Kane and P P was in. it P was in it neat what year was this. uh this is in the 80s but it told the. story of a of a soccer match that was. held between the Nazis and the PWS uh. but there was a an escape plan at. halftime. where they were to bust out dig they had.

people digging in and they were going to. bust into the locker room and get them. out and I'm not going to spoil it but. let's just say they are faced at. halftime with the choice do we escape. during this game or do we go back on. that field and try and beat the Nazis at. soccer uh you escape it's. unequivocal great great movie one of the. great Sports movies it sounds like it. was remade as The Longest Yard isn't. that that kind of like the plot of that.

too um I mean no it wasn't like a remake. but the longest yard was that was the. Bert Reynolds football movie about. prison prison football game yeah well. then remade Again by Adam Sandler but I. don't think there was an escape thing in. The Longest Yard was there that's what I. thought that's why I said that I thought. there might be but maybe I just put that. in there to entertain myself because I. was bored it's been it's been Thanks a. lot appreciate that no no no I mean what. with the movie not with your anecdote oh.

okay no I don't think there was unless. I'm wrong I think the longest yard was. just about a football game but I may be. wrong it's been a minute okay well this. conversation's boring let's move. on Stallone plays the goalkeeper does he. really your one yeah does he take one in. the face uh well they had to teach him. he wasn't very good at it but they. needed him on the Escape team so uh he. was not the most gifted goalkeeper but. they had p and they had all these other. English football stars at at from the. time that I didn't know about but my.

friend Justin's like oh that was Bob. something something and whatever I. hadn't realized P had been a. p oh my. God we just stop well wait a minute wait. a minute before we stop we have to say. that um in addition to those like uh. basketball handball track and field that. kind of stuff they actually held. cultural um events as part of the. Olympic competitions at waldenberg in. 1944 for um things like sculpture and.

painting and chess and you would just. normally think like okay they were just. trying to round some stuff out maybe. they were trying to replace the javelin. event with something else so they came. up with chess no from 1912 to 1952 the. Olympics awarded 151 medals to original. works in the Fine Arts like you you. could go see a sculpture um exhibit and. a long jump compet ition in the same.

place maybe even during that 50 years or. 40 years you can see a sculpture battle. sculpt. off uh yeah I had no idea so that was. sort of one my big one takeaway out out. of this whole thing was that they. actually for four decades gave out. Olympic medals in the Arts yeah so cool. it is very cool it was a surprising. little factoid that I had not expected. to learn from this one yeah that and. that P was a p and 1983 or whatever.

right so hats off to everybody who. participated in Olympics and P camps it. is kind of a a Triumph of the human. Spirit you know what I mean totally like. the the purest form of Olympic. competition that's right uh and I guess. since Chuck is agreeing with me then we. should just go ahead and say the short. stuff is. out stuff you should know is a. production of iHeart radio for more. podcasts from iHeart Radio visit the. iHeart Radio app. Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to.

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