Synopsis:
In 1942 at the centre point of World War II an extraordinary event took place not on the battlefield but in a municipal stadium in Kiev. This is the true story of courage, team loyalty and fortitude in the face of the most brutal oppression the world had ever seen.When Hitler initiated Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, he caught the Soviet Union completely by surprise. At breathtaking speed his armies swept east, slaughtering the ill-prepared Soviet forces. His greatest military gains of the entire war were made in a few short months, and the largest single country that he conquered was the Ukraine, roughly the size of France. Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, was circled, assaulted and overrun, and among the city’s defenders who were captured and incarcerated were many of the members of the sparkling 1939 Dynamo Kiev football team, arguably the best in Europe before the war. Captured Kiev was a starving city whose population were deported in vast numbers as slave labour.However one man determined to save not just the surviving players from the Dynamo side but other athletes. He offered them work, shelter and, most valuable, bread, as workers in his bakery. Inspired by the charismatic goalkeeper Trusevich, the Dynamo side was re-formed as Start FC and a series of fixtures was arranged, all of which the team win handsomely, to such an extent that they inspired Kievan spirits. The final fixture against the Luftwaffe was agreed by the German authorities: a well-fed team from the Fatherland would vanquish the upstart Ukrainians, especially if the game was refereed by an SS officer. The match is an allegory of resistance; its consequences are brutal. Andy Dougan has discovered the truth behind a legendary encounter, sorting fact from fiction and restoring to the centre of World War II a moment of extraordinary poignancy and complex bravery, of which the cliché is demonstrably true: football is not a matter of life or death; it’s much more important than that.
From the Back Cover:
When Hitler initiated Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, he caught the Soviet Union completely by surprise. At breathtaking speed, his armies swept East, slaughtering the ill-prepared Soviet forces. His greatest military gains in all of World War II were made in these few short months, and the largest single country that he conquered was the Ukraine. Ukraine's capital, Kiev, was circled, assaulted, and overrun. Among the city's defenders who were captured and incarcerated were many of the members of the sparkling 1939 Dynamo Kiev football team, arguably the best squad in Europe before the war. Captured Kiev was a starving city whose population was deported in vast numbers as slave labor. However, one man was determined not just to save the surviving players from the Dynamo squad but other athletes as well. He offered them work, shelter, and - most valuable - bread, as workers in his bakery. Inspired by the charismatic goalkeeper Trusevich, the Dynamo squad was re-formed as Start FC, and a series of matches were arranged, all of which the team won handsomely, and to such an extent that they inspired Kievan spirits. The final match, however, against the Luftwaffe, was arranged by the German authorities. A well-fed team from the Fatherland would vanquish the upstart Ukrainians, especially since the game would be refereed by an S.S. officer. The match itself was an allegory of resistance, and its consequences were brutal. In Dynamo Andy Dougan has discovered the truth behind a legendary encounter, sorting fact from fiction and restoring a moment of extraordinary poignancy and complex bravery to the center of World War II. The cliché is demonstrably true: football is not a matter of life or death; it's much more important than that. (6 x 9 1/4, 256 pages)Andy Dougan is a writer for the Glasgow Evening Times and the author of six previous books, including biographies of American film luminaries Martin Scorcese, Michael Douglas, and Robert De Niro.
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