From Olympic Glory to Sachsenhausen: The Story of Włodzimierz Długoszewski

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In the summer of 1936, as the world’s eyes turned to Berlin for the Olympic Games, a new Nazi concentration camp was being built just north of the capital: Sachsenhausen. Among the athletes competing that year was Włodzimierz Długoszewski, a talented Polish rower, sports journalist, and public intellectual. He proudly captained the Polish rowing team to Olympic bronze. What he couldn’t know then was that only a few years later, he would become one of thousands to suffer and die in the very system that was quietly being constructed in the background of the Games.

Olympic Achievement Amid Rising Darkness

Born on April 6, 1905, in Kraków, Długoszewski was a gifted academic and athlete. He studied philosophy and economics at the Jagiellonian University and the Kraków School of Commerce, and he simultaneously built a brilliant rowing career. He was a two-time university world champion in single sculls (1924, 1927) and won four Polish national titles before becoming captain of Poland’s rowing team for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His team clinched the bronze medal, a proud moment in a politically charged sporting event staged by Nazi Germany to impress the world.

As a respected journalist, Długoszewski also reported for the Berlin-based Wassersport magazine and was later awarded a national sports journalism prize. He was deeply embedded in Polish intellectual and sporting life.

Sachsenhausen: Built During the Olympics

While the Olympic flame flickered in Berlin, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was quietly under construction in Oranienburg, about 35 km to the north. It became operational in July 1936, just weeks before the Games began. This grim coincidence stands as a stark reminder of how the Nazi regime used the Olympics as a smokescreen for its growing brutality.

Sachsenhausen would go on to imprison over 200,000 people, including political prisoners, resistance fighters, and victims from across Nazi-occupied Europe. It was a site of forced labor, medical experimentation, and mass executions — a training ground for SS officers who would later command other camps across the Reich.

Resistance and Imprisonment

When war broke out, Długoszewski did not remain silent. He joined the Polish resistance (ZWZ-AK) and continued to work as a journalist under Nazi occupation. His bravery came at a cost: he was arrested by the Gestapo on November 6, 1942, and imprisoned in the infamous Montelupich prison in Kraków. From there, he was sent to Auschwitz (prisoner number 79036), and later transferred to Sachsenhausen in 1944.

Długoszewski survived the camp’s liberation in April 1945, but his ordeal left him severely weakened. He died of typhus and exhaustion on July 25, 1945, in a camp for liberated prisoners near Hamburg.

Memorial and Legacy

Today, a memorial stone at the Sachsenhausen Memorial Site honors Włodzimierz Długoszewski — Olympic medalist, journalist, and resistance hero. His story bridges two worlds: one of athletic excellence and another of unimaginable suffering. He is a symbol of how quickly history can turn, and how even the most celebrated figures can become victims of tyranny.

Visit Sachsenhausen – and Remember

A visit to Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum is a powerful and sobering experience. Walking through its gates, you’ll learn about the many lives — including Długoszewski’s — lost to fascism. The camp's proximity to Berlin makes it one of the most accessible and important WW2 history sites in Germany.