Schalke's Shadow

Match day in the Arena. Tens of thousands of people in blue and white flood the paths around the stadium. They stream from the car parks and train stations towards the temple of glass and concrete. Their path leads them along streets dedicated to the club's most important players. The street names commemorate the people who made the club what it is today. Stan Libuda, Ernst Kalwitzki and Ernst Kuzorra can be found here. One name, however, is missing: Fritz Szepan. But the reason for this is not on the pitch. Szepan is undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers ever to wear the royal blue jersey. He was the pacemaker and director of Schalke's top line and also contributed to the S04 legend. The reason for this lies off the pitch: Fritz Szepan was more closely involved with National Socialism during the Third Reich than the other players on the Schalker Kreisel.

When the National Socialist Workers' Party (NSDAP) came to power under Adolf Hitler in 1933, FC Schalke 04 adapted to the new conditions. As part of this adaptation, for example, Jewish members were excluded from the club. Schalke was no different from most other clubs. What set the Royal Blues apart from the other clubs was their sporting superiority. Between 1934 and 1942, they won the German championship six times. Schalke's most successful years (so far) were therefore during the Nazi era. This is why some people still think today that Schalke must have been a Nazi club whose successes were bought by its closeness to the regime. Various studies have since refuted this claim. There were no ardent supporters of National Socialism among the Knappen. And their sporting success was due to their superior style of play, which they had cultivated and improved since the mid-1920s. The Schalke team's sporting breakthrough had already been heralded in the years before the takeover.

It cannot be denied: The National Socialists utilised the Schalke team for their own political purposes due to their success and popularity. The workers' club from the industrialised region fitted in too well with the National Socialist narrative of the national community, in which each individual places themselves at the service of the community. Party members liked to bask in the glamour of the Schalke heroes. Mayors, Gauleiters and even Adolf Hitler allowed themselves to be photographed with Schalke's champion team. The players did not resist. They were sure of many invitations to tournaments and friendly matches. And every game meant cash in hand for the players. So there were advantages to being photographed with party celebrities.

Apart from Hans Bornemann, only Fritz Szepan and Ernst Kuzorra from the Schalke squad belonged to the NSDAP. Szepan and Kuzorra joined the party in 1937. Their later membership suggests that they did not do so out of political conviction. Presumably, the two most prominent Schalke players were able to secure some advantages by joining. But why are a street and a square named after Ernst Kuzorra today, while Fritz Szepan's name is nowhere to be found? In contrast to Kuzorra, Fritz Szepan was much more involved in the political aims of the regime. As captain of the national team, he represented it abroad. Before several elections, he campaigned for Adolf Hitler and thus put his fame at the service of the NSDAP.

But the most important difference between the two Schalke legends: Szepan profited from the disenfranchisement and oppression of his Jewish fellow citizens during the Third Reich. In 1938, he acquired the textile shop Julius Rode & Co. on Schalker Markt. Szepan bought it from the previous Jewish owners Sally Meyer and Julie Lichtmann for 7,000 Reichsmarks. The shop was actually worth much more. The price was so low because Meyer and Lichtmann were under massive pressure because of their Jewish ancestry. What looked like a purchase transaction to the outside world was actually an expropriation. It is unlikely that Szepan was unaware of this. This is the conclusion reached by historians Stefan Goch and Norbert Silberbach in their study Zwischen Blau und Weiß liegt Grau” ("Between blue and white lies grey"). While Fritz Szepan and his wife Elise began a new life as business owners, the old lives of Sally Meyer and Julie Lichtmann were destroyed piece by piece. Both were deported to Riga in 1942 and murdered soon after their arrival.

Unlike the other players, Szepan benefited from the political system of National Socialism. However, his past only came back into the public eye with the construction of the arena. In 2001, FC Schalke 04 announced its intention to name a street at the arena after Szepan. Critical voices in the city council referred to the takeover of the textile business on the Schalke market. FC Schalke 04 commissioned a study to clarify the situation. It was the first Bundesliga club to have its history during the Third Reich analysed by historians. As already mentioned, the results were published under the title "Zwischen Blau und Weiß liegt Grau” ("Between blue and white lies grey"). After Szepan's role was analysed, the club refrained from naming the street. 

Image source: Institut für Stadtgeschichte Gelsenkirchen