Team GB land in Berlin!

Team Maccabi GB’s open and junior squads arrived in Berlin on Sunday as they began their pre-camp ahead of the start of competition on Tuesday.

The first such programme at a European Maccabi Games, the first visit was to the Olympic Park and Olympic Stadium, which will be the epicentre of this year’s Games. The Delegation visited the Bell Tower, which overlooks much of Berlin, and went around the site’s museum whilst learning about the history of the Stadium and its role as the host of the 1936 ‘Nazi Olympics’.

The next stop was Große Hamburger Straße – The Jewish Quarter. Athletes, managers and staff received a tour of the area, looking at the period between 1750 and 1871 – the development of modern Judaism and its connection with Jewish life in Britain today, while also taking in part of an educational activity on British Identity vs Jewish identity.

The squad then visited one of the most poignant stops on pre-camp – Bebelplatz, the book-burning site and one of the first Antisemitic events of the Nazi Regime.

Sunday evening saw MGB join the delegation from Maccabi USA for a Gala Dinner held in the Hotel Conference Centre. The evening was led by Team MGB’s Head of Delegation, Daniel Collins, and they were joined by the Ambassador of Great Britain – Sir Simon McDonald, the Israeli Chargé d’affaires – Minister Avraham Nir-Feldklein, MWU President – Leo Dan-Bensky, EMC Chairman – Motti Tischauer, United States Political Officer – John Kastning, and Maccabi USA’s Jeff Bukantz.

The Masters delegation arrive in Germany later on Monday, with the first day of competition, which sees the football, futsal and tennis events all begin, starting on Tuesday morning.