Keeping them down
... each other and each getting coffee and a danish we sat down to speak. I started by telling him how happy I was that he accepted my invitation to do this interview, he told me that he “was always happy to help me.” I asked him to tell me about the Ukraine during the Second World War, he said “The conditions were horrible, many people do not realize that the people living in what is now the Ukraine lost the largest amount of human lives during the war. Everyone knew someone who had been killed, many times entire families.” I asked him if he knew a rough number of people lost at that time and he told me “I do not know a complete number, the Ukraine lost 19 percent of it’s population most normal people, women children, not military. The entire military of the USSR lost over eight million I think, that number with civilian deaths is much, much greater.” I then asked him how the people didn’t lose hope, how they continued to live under the enormous death toll, and the fear of the Germans. He told me “It was very difficult, but we had our pride our patriotism, I have told you there are many, many monuments standing in the Ukraine that pay respect to the people who stood up against what they thought was wrong, even though they died for it.” At this time he looks up at me and smiles because he knows that I want him to tell me the story of the Dynamo Kiev soccer team, and a game that they played against a squad of Nazis. “This is the story you want ah?” he says while nodding at me. I smile back and nod at him to begin when he is ready. “It was 1942, I was very young, before the war I was a reserve player for the Dynamo team, because back then I had quick feet and a good left foot, but I was a reserve because I would be injured many times. I think the Germans wanted to prove they were the best in everything and to make the people more hopeless than they felt so they challenged the Dynamo team to a game.” I interrupt his story to ask about the physical conditions of the team, he tells me “The Dynamo players were out of shape, no conditioning, others had gone to fight in the war. The Germans were physically strong, quick, and had been practicing.” The arrangements were made to play a game and a date was set. “I remember, they scored the first goal within a minute, but the old talent of Dynamo came out and we scored twice before half time.” Again I interrupt his story to ask about the atmosphere in the stadium. He goes on to say that “The fans were crazy, they were sending jeers to the German Commandant of Kiev and his officers who were sitting in a section of the stadium. The second half got worse for them as Dynamo went on winning 4-1, the embarrassed officers got up, and the referee blew his whistle to end the game before it was time.” I asked him if the mood changed after the game, a defeat of the Germans and he told me “We were very, very proud. You know I was a reserve for the team and I wanted so badly to play, as you know the Germans were very angry at this and they challenged Dynamo to more games.” I asked him how many times they played the Germans. “Total there were four games, I told you about the first game, the next three had much stronger German players but Dynamo still won those games 6-0, 2-1, and the last one 5-1. But none of these games were ever covered in a newspaper.” I asked him to tell me about the last game and in his hesitation he smiles a little bit. “The last game went much like the first, we were winning at half time, but this time a German officer came down from the Commandant’s box to tell the Dynamo team that “they shouldn’t play so well, and they would be shot if they did not obey.” I don’t know what went on in the dressing room, but I’m sure they made their decision there and not on the field after half time because when they came back out they scored again within a minu...