After gaining some exposure at a few film festivals, “Berlin 36”, a small-budget movie from a major historic event — the Olympic Games held in Nazi-controlled Germany – is now in general release in the U.S.
Written by Lothar Kurzawa and directed by Kaspar Heidelbach, the film is a bizarre story of a German male athlete forced to secretly compete as a woman to overshadow a Jewish female teammate.
Berlin, 1936. The U.S. threatens to boycott the Olympic Games because of Hitler’s racial policies. They insist that Nazi Germany allow Jews on their team, and specifically demand the participation of Jewish high jumper Gretel Bergmann (Karoline Herfurth), the leading high jumper of her time. The Nazis reluctantly decide to include her, but to make sure she doesn’t win a gold medal, they send in a rival, the unknown Marie Ketteler (Sebastian Urzendowsky) who is based on Dora Ratjen.
Their coach, a rabid Nazi, uses every means in the book to undermine Gretel’s preparations. Yet she consistently outscores her other competitors, including Marie. Two weeks before the games, Gretel is barred from participating; the Nazis’ goal to eliminate the team’s Jewish competitor — yet still win a gold medal — seems within reach. But Gretel and Marie have forged a strong friendship during their training. It is now up to Marie to decide if the Nazis’ plan will actually succeed.
“Berlin 36” is based on a true story of a most unusual friendship. It certainly epitomizes how people are used as pawns in the bigger game of sports and politics.
After the Games, Bergman fled to the United States with just $4 in her pocket. “Nobody dared pack anything else,” she said.
She changed her name and settled down in New York with her husband. They’ve been married 71 years and have two children.
In 2004, when asked how far she thought she might have gotten at the Olympics, Bergmann replied: “Gold, it couldn’t have been anything else. Gold. The more furious I was, the higher I jumped.” She added: “To show what a Jewish girl was capable of in front of 100,000 people – that would have been sheer heaven.” 
