Against discrimination in sport

Racist abuse in the supporters’ stand or the spreading of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories at the clubhouse bar are examples of how discrimination manifests itself on match days and in everyday club life. Many people have experienced this first-hand or heard about it. But how should we deal with it? And what can we do to prevent discriminatory incidents from occurring in the first place? 

Through working with examples from the world of sport, workshop participants will explore current forms of discrimination and discuss possible courses of action to combat discrimination in sport.

The following questions, among others, will be addressed:

• What is discrimination?
• What are the similarities and differences between the various forms of discrimination in sport?
• How should we deal with it?
• And what can be done to prevent it from happening in the first place?

The aim is not only to recognise and identify the forms of discrimination that occur in sport, but also to raise awareness of diversity and inequalities in sport. Interested groups can use this programme to develop practical strategies for how they, as a club or other organisation, can take a stand against anti-Semitism and discrimination and act accordingly in their day-to-day activities.

The content of the workshop is not tied to a specific location, so the workshops can take place either at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial or on the premises of the interested groups. The minimum duration of the workshop is three hours.

This study day focuses on a critical examination of the intertwining of politics and sport under National Socialism. Various key themes will be highlighted and explored collectively by the participants through an examination of biographies. 

Sport, as a mass phenomenon, served as a platform for propaganda, but was also used by the Nazis to exclude people from the “people’s community” (Volksgemeinschaft) or to promote the Nazi cult of the body. In the concentration camps, so-called sport was used by the guards to torture prisoners. At the same time, a privileged minority of the prisoners in the camps were able to practise sport as a survival strategy. In the Displaced Persons Camps, sport served, among other things, to allow survivors to express their own strength and resilience, as was the case in Bergen-Belsen.

To this day, participation and exclusion of people can be observed in sport. Anti-Semitism, racism and misanthropy as a whole did not disappear in 1945 and continue to be part of sport.

This study day offers participants the opportunity to understand the specific links between National Socialism and sport, as well as the history of the Bergen-Belsen place of remembrance. In addition, participants will explore questions regarding the relevance of the past to everyday sporting life and the culture of remembrance today, reflecting on continuities and current forces within sport that both unite and exclude.

The programme takes place at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial and lasts six hours.

Organising a special event, such as a sports day, in combination with on-site educational activities. By organising an action day, such as a sports festival, the content of the educational programme can be combined with sporting activities. By linking it to sporting activities, enthusiasm for sport can be harnessed to convey educational content in an accessible way. This can be integrated into the action days in the form of workshops or other accessible activities that encourage discussion and reflection. In addition, such action days can draw attention to the relevance of the topic and the commitment of the club, association or school. The memorial regularly collaborates with other partners in the planning and implementation of the action days, for example fan projects, the Per Mertesacker Foundation, the Lower Saxony Football Association or Makkabi Germany.

A dedicated workshop day focusing on practical measures and argumentation strategies for tackling discrimination in sport. Participants will explore ways of addressing anti-Semitism, racism and misanthropy in general, and develop their own approaches that they can put into practice within their own communities. In addition, they will practise dealing with challenging situations in sport through argumentation training.