June 30: High-Jumpin’ Gretel

Gretel Bergmann tied the German women’s high jump record on this date in 1936 with a 1.60 meter jump (5′3″). Bergmann’s Jewish family had already sent her to Great Britain after the accession of the Nazis to power in 1933, but the Nazi government had threatened the family with reprisals if she did not return to compete in the Berlin Olympics. Two weeks after her record jump, however, prior to the opening of the Olympics, her accomplishment was stricken from the record books and she was dropped from the national team. (Her replacement was later revealed to be a man.) In 1937, Bergmann emigrated to New York. In 1996, she was admitted to America’s National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2009, when she was 95, her German national record was restored to the books by the German track and field association.

“I was just a very good athlete. It came to me very easily. I didn’t even train much.” —Gretel Bergmann