A sporting event used to allow sports people to prove their skills above others. So people wanted to know which countries had the best athletes. Although I was fully aware of the 1936 Games in Berlin, rarely had a sporting event been so loaded with subtext as this 1956 waterpolo was.
Seven years after Hungary was formally under Soviet control, any meeting between representatives of the two nations would naturally be political. Probably more in water polo than any other sport since Hungary was waterpolo’s super power. Remember that at the 1952 Games, Hungary had already defeated Russia. And so, as they worked on improving their chances for 1956, the Soviets learned from Hungary’s uniquely successful training regime.
The Melbourne crowds could not see what was happening under water
Olympic Pool, 1956
Months before the Games, the teams met again in a practice tournament in Moscow. Russia won and after the match the two sides suffered a dressing-room punch-up. At another match in Hungary, fans turned their backs as the Russians were introduced, and drowned out their national anthem.
In 1955, Hungary’s populist prime minister Imre Nagy urged his country to dream of a bright, post-Communist future following the despot Stalin’s death two years earlier. And in late Oct 1956, just a month before the opening ceremony in Melbourne, students in Budapest organised a protest in the streets - c200,000 people were involved, violence broke out and police opened fire in an attempt to disperse the crowd; hundreds were killed and thousands more arrested. Although Imre Nagy returned as prime minister the following day, Budapest’s protests continued.
Hungarian Olympians, meanwhile, were isolated in a large house near Budapest, close enough to hear the gunfire. Nagy declared that the Hungarian team would indeed travel to Australia, but the country was relying on international support to stop the Soviets. What poor timing ☹ In late Oct 1956 the Suez Crisis escalated, with Britain, France and Israel against Egypt. Nonetheless Nagy pushed on, withdrew Hungary from the Warsaw Pact and declared the country’s plan to seek independence. The athletes left with the revolution still going.
The athletes heard no more news until arriving in Melbourne in late Nov. The one English-speaker member of the team translated the latest news from a newspaper: the Soviet Union had invaded and the resistance had been crushed. Nagy was arrested by Soviet forces and would be tried.
Spain, Switzerland and Holland boycotted the Olympics in protest at the Soviet invasion; Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq boycotted it because of Suez. Israel sent a tiny team, just to ensure their national flag would be carried proudly at the Opening Ceremony.
Melbourne's Olympics, first EVER south of the equator, were held in Nov and Dec, as the Australian summer started. No beaches for the Hungarians however.. they were training.
Olympic Pool, 1956
Months before the Games, the teams met again in a practice tournament in Moscow. Russia won and after the match the two sides suffered a dressing-room punch-up. At another match in Hungary, fans turned their backs as the Russians were introduced, and drowned out their national anthem.
In 1955, Hungary’s populist prime minister Imre Nagy urged his country to dream of a bright, post-Communist future following the despot Stalin’s death two years earlier. And in late Oct 1956, just a month before the opening ceremony in Melbourne, students in Budapest organised a protest in the streets - c200,000 people were involved, violence broke out and police opened fire in an attempt to disperse the crowd; hundreds were killed and thousands more arrested. Although Imre Nagy returned as prime minister the following day, Budapest’s protests continued.
Hungarian Olympians, meanwhile, were isolated in a large house near Budapest, close enough to hear the gunfire. Nagy declared that the Hungarian team would indeed travel to Australia, but the country was relying on international support to stop the Soviets. What poor timing ☹ In late Oct 1956 the Suez Crisis escalated, with Britain, France and Israel against Egypt. Nonetheless Nagy pushed on, withdrew Hungary from the Warsaw Pact and declared the country’s plan to seek independence. The athletes left with the revolution still going.
The athletes heard no more news until arriving in Melbourne in late Nov. The one English-speaker member of the team translated the latest news from a newspaper: the Soviet Union had invaded and the resistance had been crushed. Nagy was arrested by Soviet forces and would be tried.
Spain, Switzerland and Holland boycotted the Olympics in protest at the Soviet invasion; Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq boycotted it because of Suez. Israel sent a tiny team, just to ensure their national flag would be carried proudly at the Opening Ceremony.
Melbourne's Olympics, first EVER south of the equator, were held in Nov and Dec, as the Australian summer started. No beaches for the Hungarians however.. they were training.
The Sun newspaper, 1956
As I have noted before, the engineer responsible for all filtration systems at the 1956 Olympic Games was my father. The daily newspapers were filled with articles about whether the swimming, diving and waterpolo pools would be ready, and in grateful thanks, my late father received tickets for the four of us for each of his three water sports’ events. (My youngest brother was born a fortnight later!)
In Melbourne, the Hungarians crushed the USA in their first game, then easily defeated Germany and Italy. This brought them a semi-final against the Soviet Union, with their team hell bent on violent revenge for the Budapest crisis. The occasion drew a capacity crowd, swelled with members of Melbourne’s large East European communities. The atmosphere was fraught from the start.
The newspapers said that in the match, there was kicking and punching from both sides. My late father said that as we could see the slice-wounds from below water level, they had been caused by knives attached to some of the players’ ankles. At least 5 players were ordered out of the pool by the referee. The crowd went wild. Spectators and officials jumped the barrier and rushed towards the opposition teams. Police, primed for possible violence, immediately descended in numbers and the Swedish referee blew the final whistle. Journalists and photographers crowded round the injured players. Pictures of the polo players’ injuries were published around the world, which led to the Blood in the Water name.
The New Daily
My family had been devastated on behalf of the injured Russian waterpolo players, and not just because mum’s family lived in Russia. But mainly because in 1944 and 1945, 68% of the huge Hungarian Jewish population had been exterminated and 1956 had been the first year Holocaust survivors from Hungary started arriving in Australia.
In the end, Hungary beat Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final to win their fourth Olympic gold medal for waterpolo, ending the 1956 medals table in an excellent fourth place.
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10 comments:
Helen I would have thought that politics and sports could have been separated. But my parents simply said a pox on both their houses.
Deb
The Olympic Charter said "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in the Olympic areas". But as we know, the modern Olympic movement has VERY often had to deal with bans, boycotts, protests, fights and terrorist attacks. For example, in 1948 Germany and Japan were banned from going to London; Soviet Union was invited but refused to participate. In 1960, South Africa was banned from Rome's Olympic Games etc etc.
125 years of experience showed that politics and sports could never be separated.
The principles of the Olympics are to be applauded. However the reality is something else.
Fun60,
The more we examine the Olympic Games since 1896, the more it becomes clear that committed people will never avoid political involvement in important international sports events.
Apart from any other reason, consider that every person on the planet watches the Olympics - no political group would ever have such an enormous audience. If the Palestinians had shot Israeli athletes dead at home, it would barely have made the evening news. But in Munich in 1972, the Black September killings stopped the world in its tracks.
While both you and I have posted about the incident before, that was a gripping read. Seeing bullet holes in Budapest buildings was a sobering reminder of the later remaining tensions.
Andrew
Admittedly I was young and innocent back then. But even so, we were all shocked that European battles would be played out in Australia. All those young, handsome, athletic types in minimal clothing seemed to blend well into our laid back and welcoming "Friendly Games", as the 1956 Games were called.
Hello Hels, The wholesomeness of athletics hides (or conversely brings out) a multitude of issues, but usually in those who are not the actual contestants. The idea of two teams attacking each other with weapons during a intensely-watched match is a definite low point, showing the collapse of the entire framework of sportsmanship.
--Jim
Parnassus
Wholesomeness is a great word, thank you. We are never surprised when politics influence, or clash with economics, immigration or even religion. Yet we assume clean, wholesome fields (like sports or the arts) will not be tainted. Perhaps that explains why we feel so deflated when great sportsmen are found guilty of drug use.
Hi Hels - I don't remember any of this ... I was too young - but did work for the BOA at the 1972 Games ... but certainly wasn't interested in politics etc or knew anything about politics - I just loved sport and was lucky enough to have a job at the BOA.
Fascinating about your father - I hadn't realised that ... he was the filtration engineer for your Melbourne Games ... thank you and all the best - Hilary
Hilary
Read https://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com/2010/10/olympic-fever-and-modernist.html for a more detailed review of the three Olympic water sports in Melbourne in 1956.
But because I was only in primary school back in 1956, I remember my late father's contribution for other reasons. Firstly the Italians wouldn't send a team to Australia, unless we had coffee shops that had espresso machines. So my father negotiated with two coffee shops in Melbourne who agreed to import and install espresso machines, months before the Games started. We got free espresso and Italian cakes for the duration of the Olympics.
Secondly all the nations' athletes lived in a village, way out of the centre of the city. My father had an entry pass into Israel's section of the village, so we met the three Israeli athletes and took them out to restaurants. They were only teenagers at the time and my parents became their substitute parents :)
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