2023-08-06 10:11:46
This rare and beautiful story of friendship is an example for the present time, where color and race hatreds are not less fierce.
Jesse Owens and Luz Long in Berlin
It wasn’t just the history-making leap of a black American named Jesse Owens who brought Adolf Hitler’s Nazi genocide to its knees at the Berlin Olympics. It’s also a Nazi soldier’s embrace that time forgot to celebrate. Karl Ludwig Las Long is the second hero of that story, the apple of Hitler’s eye. Nazi soldier who won silver in the long jump behind Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Owens is a pure-blooded, blue-eyed, trait Aryan bred by Hitler’s Nazi regime to overthrow Owens. Long was the one who publicly shook hands with Owens, who Hitler refused to shake hands with, in front of Hitler. Despite warnings from the administration, Long maintained his friendship with Owens until his death. This rare and beautiful story of friendship is an example for the present time, where color and race hatreds are not less fierce.
Owens was on the brink of elimination after missing the first two jumps of the long jump in the preliminary round at Berlin’s Olympiastadion with the world watching. One more mistake and out. As Hitler had hoped, a German named Luss Long was also the winner. But Long came up to the exhausted Owens and said: ‘Just before the take-off platform, jump on your feet. No penalty. He is not a person who can jump 7.15 meters even in his sleep.’ Owens was energized by that. In the final with the next jump. And in the fifth jump of the final, he overcame the same long distance of 8.06 meters and won the gold. Long had to settle for silver with a jump of 7.87m. As Hitler and his right-hand man Joseph Goebbels looked on, the theory of Aryan supremacy fell flat.
Jesse Owens and Luz Long at the medal ceremony at the Berlin Olympics. Photo: AP
Long’s friendship with Owens, the national hero of the United States, who insulted not only Nazi Hitler, but also his own democratic president Franklin D. Roosevelt, despite making history, began that day. Owens said of it, “Even if I melted down all the medals I had ever won, that twenty-four carats would not come close to friendship.”
While there are those who doubt the story of Long Owens being mentored, the history is that friendship did not change during the Nazi heyday. It grew through letters. During World War II, a letter arrived from North Africa looking for Owens. Long was serving in the Nazi Wehrmacht at the time. ‘Here before me is nothing but dry sand and wet blood. Adhi is not thinking about me, but about my wife and son at home. This is my last letter. You should do me a favor. When the war is over, I must go to Germany and find my son. He must tell about his father. Long’s last words were emotional—speak for men in a time without war.
As stated in the letter, Luz Long did not return. Lasz, who was shot in Sicily, Italy on July 10, breathed his last on the fourth day. He was later buried at the Motta St. Anastasia War Cemetery in Sicily along with 4,500 other soldiers who lost their lives in World War II.
Jesse Owens did not break his promise to his friend. In 1951 he came to Germany and discovered Carl, the son of Luz Long. Supervised his wedding. Even though Owens also died in 1980, the bond of that rare friendship was not broken. Lus Long’s son Carl, granddaughter Julia and Owens’ granddaughter Marlene came to attend a friendly banquet hosted by Berlin in 2009 when it hosted the World Athletics Championships. Together they distributed the medals to the winners of the long jump. Not only the friendships, but also the true Olympic spirit will not die in the wind of time.
Content Highlights: jesse owens, luz long, olympics, athletics, friendship, sports, racism
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