1936 Olympics/Man who was really a woman

[JohnnoP]

I've just stumbled across Dora Ratjen, a German who finished fourth in the high jump in the 1936 Berlin Games. Apparently, she was in fact a Hitler Youth named Hermann, who had somehow been coerced into passing himself off as a woman.

Does anyone know anything about this?

Gretel Bergmann, his roommate in the Olympic village, was the first to raise doubts about his/her sex (no doubt based on close personal observation!) The English silver medallist, Dorothy Odam, was also dubious.

In 1957, working as a barman in Hamburg, Dora/Hermann supposedly admitted it was a trick in a newspaper report.

Can anyone confirm the story? It's very entertaining but seems to be too weird to be true. More importantly, can someone tell me the source of the 1957 report? And if it does turn out to be fact, whatever happened to Hermann in later life? It would be a terrible thing to have to live with.

Cheers!



Sorry, meant to say "Woman who was really a man"

[Durand]

Hallo,

A search with Google returned a large number of hits for "Dora Ratjen" aka Hermann Ratjen. The basic outline of the situation as you described appears to be confirmed by a number of reports. A major difference between the various accounts being whether Hermann Ratjen was a transvestite or a hermaphrodite. Whatever the case, "Dora" was barred from international competition in 1938.

I do not know what became of this person after 1957.

Regards,

Durand

[HSSPF Jersey]

I remember seeing a documentary many years ago about this athlete, which confirmed that she/he was in fact a hermaphrodite. Not sure how a hermaphrodite would fit in with Hitler's vision of perfection but I guess all is fair in love, war and athletics!

I do not recall the name of the documentary or on which channel it was shown on British television (my guess is that it may have been a BBC production) but it might be worth checking out for research purposes.

Hope this helps

Lee

[Famas_1]

Heh heh -- looks like the Germans have a long history of "man-women" competing in the Olympics.... (East German women athletes hopped up on steroids)

[JohnnoP]

Thanks for your replies, everyone.

[Manfred-V]

And what about Stella Walsh, medal winner 1932 and 36? After "her" dead 1980 they found out "she" was a "he".
It's not a special german or american or russian problem. Everywhere are hermaphrodites. Some of them know it and hide it, others suffer from it, others don't know it (if they haven't male genitals). There were some sports "women" in history, and in former times it wasn't easy to find out. But "Dora" and "Stella" knew who they are...
I think in both cases some olympic team managers knew it and let them start to get better chances for medals. But I think Hitler didn't knew it. What would his reaction have been if they told him that before or during olympic games 36? It was great luck for Hermann/Dora that he survived 3rd Reich.

[Fubbik]

The English silver medallist, Dorothy Odam, was also dubious.

Was she? She married and as Dorothy Tyler-Odam she won her second Olympic silver medal in 1948.

[JohnnoP]

Alas, you misunderstand me, Fubbik!

Dorothy Tyler-Odam was dubious about Dora's Ratjen's gender (they shared a room in the Olympic Village), not of dubious sexuality herself!

She was 100% per cent woman, as you indicate.

Glad we sorted that out ...

Cheers

John

[Fubbik]

Good day, JohnnoP!

The English language has its problems! I read your post a little too fast. It´s now clear what you mean, but I would have said that Dorothy Odam too doubted Dora´s sex. Or was dubitative.

One funny thing is that Helen Stephens who won the 100 metres sprint and beat Stella Walsh run so fast that the Stella Walsh supporters believed her to be a man. No woman could run that fast! German doctors examined her and found that she was indeed a woman. That Stella Walsh was not remained a secret for a long time. Her story really is a tragic one.

[Peter H]

From the Bundesarchiv.

Dora(or Hermann)

[Rexus]

LOL thanks for the picture. He is a handsome woman.

[Roderick]

sure Mussolini would like her...

regards,

RodErick

[Larrister]

With a haircut "she" becomes a "he".

[FireFoxy]

With a haircut "she" becomes a "he".

How did you do that! Are we sure it's a women now!
She looks more sexy as a man than a women!

[Urban Spaceman]

This incident of Hemann Ratjen posing as Dora Ratjen and competing for Germany in the 1936 Berlin Olympics has fascinated me for a long time, and especially what actually happened to Hermann (Dora) later in life.

Guy Walters has covered this very well in his book "Berlin Games - How the Nazis Stole the Olympic Dream" and he is the only one to have shed any light on Hermann's later life. Apparently,Hermann had some kind of operation and lived his life as a married man, keeping a bar at one time and also playing plenty of football. In early 2006, Guy reports that Hermann was still alive and living quietly in retirement in Germany with his wife, and it intrigues me how he managed to find this out. I wrote to one of the German athletic authorities some years ago about Hermann Ratjen but received no reply.

There seem to be very few photos about of "Dora" Ratjen - one shows him/her in the process of jumping - and the photo printed above is certainly the best I have seen (and the closest), which definitely (to my eyes at least) gives her a very masculine appearance. Leni Riefenstahl took some splended films of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, of which I have copies, and on one of them is action from the ladies high jump competition, including "Dora" taking one of her jumps.

Should Hermann still be alive today, he would be 90 years old, and it is a curious fact that until the death of Ibolya Csak on 10th February 2006, the first four in the ladies high jump competition from the 1936 Berlin Games were still alive, almost 70 years after the event in question, although of course, this does include Hermann / Dora, who was not exactly a lady ! As far as I am aware, Dorothy Odam-Tyler, silver medallist, is still going strong at the age of 88 in London, and the bronze medallist Elfriede Kahn is also alive and living in Kiel, Germany at the age of 94. Perhaps the secret to a long life may be to take up high jumping !!!

I am going to Email Guy Walters and see if I can find out any more about Hermann/Dora and from where he was able to obtain his information.