7_TIMELINE 1952 Angel of Helsinki - 7_TIMELINE 1952 Angel of Helsinki
The woman in white
The “Angel of Peace of Helsinki” who wanted to save the world
In the image, a humble-sized postcard (just 15x11cm) from the Mário Moniz Pereira collection under the custody of the National Sport Museum, shows an unauthorized intruder at the opening ceremony of the 1952 Helsinki Games. Barbara Rotraut Pleyer, 23 years old, won the his place in Olympic history with his “illegal” return to the stadium, becoming known as the “Angel of Peace of Helsinki”.
On July 19, 1952, rain did not prevent a crowd of 70,000 people from heading to the stadium in Helsinki for the opening of the Olympic Games, which Finland had been waiting for for twelve years. After the opening ceremony and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, an unexpected incident occurred: a young German woman named Rotraut Pleyer invaded the track. Dressed in white and carrying a torch extinguished by the rain, she walked almost a full circle before climbing to the podium and trying to speak, before being removed from the place by Erik von Frenckell.
SUBVERTED RACE AND ACTIVIST FOR PEACE
Pleyer, who entered the stadium without a ticket and undetected due to her appearance that made her look like an attendee, had a message of peace. Her ideas were born in 1948 and were strengthened in 1951, when she tried to give similar speeches in East Berlin and Paris, without success. After her arrest in Helsinki, police checked the texts she had written and realized that her message was a sincere call for world peace. Her message reflected the desires of a young generation for lasting peace and culminated in the following demands:
1. all cold and hot wars should end,
2. all people should elect their own government,
3. the greatest possible measure of freedom and equality should be guaranteed.
After the incident, Pleyer was deported to Germany and continued to promote her pacifist cause, which resonated especially at a time of great fear of an atomic confrontation during the Korean War. Her first public appearance after the Games attracted 600 people, demonstrating the relevance and impact of her ideas in a world seeking peace.
«It was decided that in the future, political demonstrations will not be permitted during the Games, whether in the Stadium or on the Sports Courts. On the other hand, the demonstrations taking place in the city are outside the scope of our jurisdiction.»
Text selected and translated from «The “Peace Angel of Helsinki” wanted to save the world», by Volker Kluge, International Society of Olympic Historians, 2017)
Original and complete text available HERE.
Estate of Mário Moniz Pereira.
Inv. DEP.2017.MP.00715
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