Thousands of Jewish athletes to play in Nazi-built venues during Maccabi Games

More than 2,100 Jewish athletes from 39 countries are coming to Berlin for the European Maccabi Games, and most will compete in venues built by the Nazis for the 1936 Olympics.

"Holding the Maccabi Games in Berlin is a very important sign," says Leo Friedman, 61, a golfer playing for Germany. Friedman's parents were liberated from a concentration camp at the end of World War II, but they decided not to move away from Germany. "We will be able to highlight that Jewish life is part of German society and that Jews have not been chased away," Friedman said.

The games start Monday and will run through Aug. 5, with increased security. Organizers say that not everyone wanted to hold the event in Berlin, due to what happened there under Nazi rule. "There were some critical voices in the Jewish community in Europe, who did not support Berlin as an event site," Oren Osterer, director of the organization committee, told NBC News. "But I would say that the younger generation was able to convince the older generation that it is right, and the time is right to hold the European Maccabi Games in Berlin, without forgetting the past."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up