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52 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1991

MIKE ROSENBAUM

Special to The Jewish News

W

hen an athlete takes
part in the Olympic
Games, he or she
typically takes home lifelong
memories of the competition,
or the pomp and ceremony of
the proceedings. But many
athletes who participated in
the 1936 Summer Games in
Berlin were left with
frightening memories of an
event run by Nazi Germany.
Irving "Toots" Meretsky, a
Windsor native, played for
Canada's silver-medal winn-
ing Olympic basketball team
in 1936. He has plenty of good
recollections about his team's
accomplishments. But he also
recalls vividly the condition
of Berlin's Jews.
"I visited a couple of Jewish
neighborhoods and it was
pathetic," Meretsky . says.
"There wasn't a soul on the
streets. In the homes, the
shades were pulled down. It
was just scary. It was as if no
one lived in the
neighborhood.
"I did a little shopping in
Berlin. I visited a number of
Jewish businesses and,
believe me, it was terrible.
Beautiful stores, maybe two
people in the store — brothers
or family — and no inventory
at all . . ., I visited other
(Jewish-owned) stores. The
same thing. It was a rotten
shame."
Speaking from his river-
front apartment in Windsor,
Meretsky looks fit at 79. He
works out regularly on an ex-
ercise bike and a rowing
machine. He also plays golf
frequently and belongs to the
Roseland Golf and Country
Club. He has an easy smile
and an upbeat disposition,
although his voice gets colder
as he recalls the tragic scenes
he witnessed in pre-war
Berlin.
As we discussed the Olym-
pics, Meretsky brought up the
obvious question before it was
asked. "A lot of people will
ask, 'Being JewisI, why did
you go to Germany in the first
place?' Well, listen, we won
the (Canadian) championship
and I looked forward to it. I
asked a few questions and I
was told by people that if I
minded my own business and
stayed in the Olympic Village
at nights and did not cruise
around the city looking for ac-
tion, that there wouldn't be
any problems."
Meretsky earned the Olym-
pic berth along with his team-

Meretsky, bottom row, third from right, with his Canadian teammates.

mates on the Windsor Ford
V8 team, by winning the On-
tario championship, then
beating the Victoria (British
Columbia) Dominoes in three
straight games to take the
Canadian title.
Julius Goldman, one of
Meretsky's V8 teammates,
described him as "a very in-
telligent player" who had a
knack for grabbing loose balls
and offensive rebounds and
turning them into baskets.
In Berlin, Meretsky saw a
contradiction between the
beautiful city and Olympic
facilities — he termed the
Olympic village "a paradise."
"When you looked around
Berlin, all you saw were the
Gestapo soldiers, thousands
and thousands of them, on
the streets. In fact, when
Hitler was due down some
avenue, 3 o'clock in the after-
noon, there were thousands of
soldiers lined up on both sides
of the street. To the back of
these soldiers were the same
number of soldiers facing the
other Way, so that he was real-
ly protected. It was very dif-
ficult to cross the street.
However, the Canadian boys
marched through, across the
street, We were a bunch of
kids; we were careless but we
had a lot of fun?'
At the Games' opening
ceremonies, the Canadians,
along with several other
teams, refused to give the
Nazis a proper Olympic
salute. "When we entered the
Olympic stadium," Meretsky
said, "the different countries
gave different salutes. The
Canadian salute was in all
different fashions. One raised
his hand; one pointed his
finger and one did something
else, but actually we never

gave the regular salute that
Germany expected. We gave
them our own salute; 'You
know what you can do.' "
The 1936 Games were the
first in which basketball was
a medal sport. The Canadians
won five straight games,
beating Brazil, Latvia,
Switzerland, Uruguay and
Poland to reach the final.
The U.S.-Canada final,
scheduled for an outdoor clay
court, was postponed for two
days by rain. When it con-
tinued to rain the next day,

At the Games'
opening
ceremonies, the
Canadians refused
to give the Nazis a
proper Olympic
salute.

the game went on anyway.
Playing on a puddle-filled
court, the taller U.S. team
beat Canada, 19-8. "We gave
them a good battle," Meretsky
says.
In contrast to endorsement-
rich modern Olympic cham-
pions, his Windsor team-
mates got a celebration when
they arrived home, but re-
ceived little else. "It was a big
thing but it wasn't too highly
recognized," Meretsky recalls.
"It didn't help to get a job. I
had to go to the west coast to
get a job."
Meretsky moved to British
Columbia as player-coach for
the Port Albernia Timber
Company team, which won a
provincial championship
under his guidance. After two
years, he returned to Windsor