Is it OK to Punch a Nazi? A Tale of Three Olympians
Not too long ago, a philosophical question reverberated throughout popular culture. The question at hand was whether or not it’s OK to punch a Nazi. This inquiry stemmed from a well circulated video of Richard Spencer, an influential white supremacist, getting punched in the face during an on-camera interview.
From my perspective, Spencer is a vile individual who has invigorated racist and antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation efforts across the United States. With a country so divided, and teetering towards the far-right (with shades of Nazi Germany) it’s sad, but not surprising to see people in support of fascism. Therefore, it’s a fool’s errand to find a collective ethical stance regarding punching Nazis, or even disavowing them.
I’m not a violent person, but I’m also not in favor of having Neo-Nazism as a mainstream ideology. When the former Convict in Chief (who has been endorsed by Richard Spencer and his ilk) gave white nationalists a lukewarm reception (during a white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017), rather than condemnation, it further emboldened their cause and visibility. If Nazism in the United States isn’t already a prevailing idea, it’s damn near close to being one at this point in time.
Thankfully, we’re still living in a collective culture where a larger majority celebrates making Nazis uncomfortable. Past and present figures that have stood up to Nazis are revered, while actual Nazis are rightfully loathed.
Perhaps no one has glorified the destruction of Nazis more than director Quentin Tarantino. In his film Inglorious Bastards, a brigade of Jewish soldiers engage in severely violent acts of revenge against the Nazis. They’re blown up, beaten to a pulp with a baseball bat and even scalped. Of course, Inglorious Bastards is a fantastical narrative and revisionist tale of World War II. However, there are historical instances of Jewish-led brigades, such as Operation Greenup, which inspired Tarantino’s film.
Soldiers weren’t the only ones striking back against Hitler’s fascist regime. Athletes had skin in the game as well.
There may be more legend than legitimacy in the story of Charles Jean Rigoulot, a French weightlifter who was imprisoned for hitting a Nazi officer during World War II. I cannot find any historical documents to corroborate the claim that Rigoulot freed himself from prison by bending the bars. It’s more likely that he was liberated from prison after France successfully resisted Vichy rule.
Rigoulot’s aggression towards the Nazis is a cause to be celebrated. As are his pre and post war accomplishments in weightlifting. Rigoulot won the gold medal in the men’s light-heavyweight division at the 1924 Summer Olympics. He also set world records for performing a clean and jerk of 360 pounds and a snatch of 253 pounds in 1928.
Other Olympians have gut punched the Nazis through the prowess of their physical fitness.
When Berlin hosted the Olympics in 1936, Jesse Owens was clearly the most dominant athlete during the event. As a Black man, he was credited with single-handedly crushing Adolf Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy. A whiny Hitler retorted, “The Americans ought to be ashamed of themselves for letting their medals be won by Negroes.” Clearly a remark made by a sore loser who just had his philosophical mantra of race science proven to be a sham.
103 year old gymnast, Ágnes Keleti is currently the oldest living Olympic athlete in the world. She is a ten time Olympic medalist, and is widely acknowledged as one of the most successful Jewish Olympic athletes of all time.
During the 1940s, Keleti was the best gymnast considered to represent Hungary at international competitions, but due to Nazism and its influence throughout other European countries, she was expelled from her gymnastics team for being Jewish (in Nazi Germany and Nazi occupied countries, Jews were barred from participating in sports). Matters got far worse, and she had to go into hiding in order to save her life. She survived by finding refuge in a “Swedish House” run by Raoul Wallenberg, a humanitarian activist who helped Jewish people escape from Nazi-occupied-occupied Hungary. Her father and other members of her family were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz.
Today’s Olympic games are more diverse than ever before, a testament to how far the international community has come in terms of inclusion in sports. However, we’re at a pivotal point in time where waves of violence and hateful rhetoric are threatening to destabilize nations and sow divisiveness. The fascists get their power through fear mongering and inciting hateful acts. If we value the lives and liberties of ourselves and others, then we have an obligation to resist their tactics in order to stop and prevent genocides and other humanitarian atrocities from being carried out.
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