The Nazi who became the legend of the City

SA bert trautmanfootball gave him a chance to heal the Anglo-German wounds of Second World War with solvent performances under the sticks. He won over a fan base that on the day of his signing organized a demonstration on Main Road, the former home ground of City of Manchester, which brought together 20,000 people who did not accept a ‘Nazi’ wearing a citizen jacket. The tremendous resistance and tenacity he had shown on the battlefield since he joined the Hitler Youth, he showed it on the pitch defending the goal. Always thinking for the good of the team.

Wehrmacht volunteer

At the age of seventeen, he enrolled in the Hitler Youth convinced of the postulates expressed by the henchmen of hitler two years ago Germany is included Poland. Assigned to the eastern front as a mechanic for his early secondary schooling, he resisted the bombing of Kleve. He didn’t like it and asked to be a radio operator but it was difficult for him to encode morse code and he was assigned to a paratrooper. In a military action on the border between Russia and Poland, was one of the 90 survivors of a regiment of 1000 soldiers. While retreating, a grenade exploded at his feet, but he survived.

Of the atrocities committed by both sides in a war, Trautman see the germans Like the massacre of the civilian population by the death squads of wehrmacht. At that moment, he realized that the purpose that led him to take up a rifle and defend the postulates of the Nazis did not fit into his understanding of the world. The war continues its course and Trautman It was intended for the Western Front to stop the advance of Allied troops after the landing of Normandy. At the Battle of the Bulge he was buried under the ruins of a house where he fought for three days but was captured by a patrol and first spent a period in the prison camp of Ostend, Belgiumwhere he was classified as a Nazi prisoner and later transferred to Lancashire, England, where, after several interviews at the end of the war, he lost his Nazi status and became a German citizen. He was released and allowed to return to Germany. He resigned and decided to stay in a country where he knew he would not be accepted.

However, he established a friendship with a family that owned a farm st helens, a good population in between Liverpool and Manchesterand spent Christmas 1946 with them.

From farm to play

His first job in England was working as a farmer from Monday to Friday but, being a great football fan, he attended the local team’s games on weekends. The directive of Saint Helens Town AFC He didn’t care to try it. That tall German could be a good central defender, in the opinion of the technical direction. And he signed a contract in 1948. In one game he was injured and did not want to leave the pitch. He asked the coach to make him a goalkeeper so he wouldn’t move too much. His performance under the sticks is worthy and in the following matches he occupies that position.

In 1949, some scouts from City of Manchester who witnessed one of the many matches they attended that season to find a goalkeeper to replace their star who had signed with another team, saw in him the perfect goalkeeper. Strong, quick reflexes, with a good shot and solvent. He first signed as a rookie, although after a few months he turned professional. Trautman He was the first athlete to United Kingdom in dressing the brand adidas thanks to his friendship with the founders of the brand Adolf and Rudolf Dassler.

15 seasons citizen

545 games played, between leagues, FA Cup and League Cup. That’s the baggage of bert trautman within City of Manchester after 14 seasons in the First Division and one in the Second Division. But to defend the goal for many years, before he had to endure the negativity of the fans of the citizens that on the day of knowing his signature they organized a protest demonstration. Some rival teams threatened to boycott the matches they had to play against him. Man City. Even Manchester’s Jewish community took a stand. the rabbi Alexander Altman he had to come out: “We cannot punish one German for what a whole nation has done.”

Those statements are important but the support he received from the team captain, Eric Westwood. Former combatant of the landing of Normandy, a decorated officer, said that “in the locker room there are no wars.” The clearest example of his participation in the team can be seen in the final of FA Cup of 1956 where Manchester City faced Birmingham City. before the one Wembley packed with 100,000 souls and with 17 minutes remaining, City lead 3-1. In a deliberate collision by Peter Murphy, Trautmann neck dislocated. Then the system of changes due to injury or tactics had not been introduced and in order not to leave his team at a disadvantage, he lingered until the final whistle. Result: five dislocated vertebrae and a second fracture that forced him to collect the champion’s medal against the Duke of Edinburgh with obvious signs of pain.

Trautman He only missed 5 games city and ended his sports career in Wellington town of League of the South where he played 2 games in the 1964-65 season.

Few foreign athletes have the honor of having their locker decorated by the queen Elizabeth II as an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for promoting Anglo-German understanding through football. In 2004, Trautman He received this recognition when he was 9 years from passing away and after an important trajectory full of experiences, some good and some bad, with soccer as a language of understanding between countries.