37. The Soccer Death Match
One of the war’s most dramatic sporting stories revolves around a soccer match that took place in German-occupied Kiev on August 6th, 1942. Pitting Ukrainian side Start FC, composed mainly of Dynamo Kyiv and Lokomotyv Kyiv professional players, vs German team Flakelf, the match ended with the locals winning 5 – 1.
The sides met again three days later, and the Ukrainians beat the Germans once more, 5 – 3. The Germans proved to be sore losers: upset at Aryan ubermenschen getting defeated by Slavic untermenschen, they had the Ukrainian players liquidated. The story was gripping, but untrue.