Between Manipulation and Resistance: Viennese Football in the Nazi Era

Abstract

What happens when everyday life, the 'things we take for granted and usually do not discuss because they work automatically' 1 is suddenly disturbed because it collides with a different 'mass phenomenon'? This is the question to be answered when analysing the 'Vienna School of Football' in the years of national socialism from 1938 to 1945. 2 What are the consequences when established practices, rituals and passions 3 meet other structures, which are imposed out of the blue but all the more radically? To what extent could everyday culture resist the extreme 'culture of national socialism'?Studies of popular culture and everyday life during the years of national socialism have played an important role in coming to terms with that era since the beginning of the 1980s. Such studies have disproved the theory that almost everything in national socialism was 'enlightened', 4 as only the framework and structure of the totalitarian regime were enlightened, but not the way it was dealt with. When writing about the popular phenomena of the nazi era, there is always the danger of trivializing things. 5 During the nazi years, the Holocaust was relevant to Viennese football only to the extent that Jews were banned from participating in public sports, and football was also played in the concentration camps. 6 From a military point of view, from 1941 soldiers on leave formed the core of many Viennese football clubs, and airforce sports clubs played an important role in football during the Third Reich. 7

Who May Represent the Country? Football, Citizenship, Migration, and National Identity at the FIFA World Cup

“…After the second goal, Sindelar ran to the stand where all the Nazi big shots were sitting and performed a dance of joy. 58 Both Austria and Germany had qualified for the World Cup in 1938 in France. After the Anschluss, however, the Austrian FA decided to withdraw from the tournament and to dissolve.…”

Untitled

“…Nazizm ve Neo-Nazizm ile futbol arasındaki ilişkiyi ortaya koymayı amaçlayan çalışmaların çok büyük bir kısmının yabancı literatüre ait olduğu gözlemlenmektedir. Marschik (1999) Nazi döneminde Avusturya futbolunu ele alan bir çalışma kaleme alırken, Carnibella vd. (1996) stadyumlardaki Neo-Nazi ideolojisini futbolda şiddet bağlamında ele almıştır.…”

Futbol jako instytucja społeczno-polityczna w wybranych niedemokratycznych reżimach politycznych w Europie. Analiza porównawcza

“…Sytuacja powtórzyła się w 1938 roku po Anschlussie Austrii, która miała niezwykle bogate tradycje piłkarskie. Żydowskich piłkarzy poddano represjom, a futbol "znacjonalizowano", likwidując i zmieniając nazwy drużynom związanym ze społecznościami żydowskimi (Marschik 1999).…”