Turn Verein 
German Gymnastics Club
I was starting my first term in Boys High
when I met Irving Krasner. I was self
taught on the high and parallel bars, rudimentary feats that I copied from others
trying to work out or show off in the playground. Irv was on the high bar doing giant swings with effortless ease.
I praised him and we became friends. He
showed and taught me various stunts on the bars and flying rings. He had learned at the Turn Verein Vorvats,
which was one of many private German health and gymnastics Turn Vereins spotted
throughout the US and the world,. and
asked if I was interested in joining and developing my gymnastic skills. Irv groomed me before he took me to an
evening meeting and introduced me to the director, Eric von Weber, who at one
time represented Germany on the parallel bars and flying rings in the
Olympics.
His suspicious ice blue eyes scanned
me. “Why do you want to join a Turn
Verein? You can learn gymnastics
elsewhere.”
“The German Turn Vereins develop
skills and teach obedience that produce
the world’s greatest gymnasts. I heard about the Turn Vereins in Europe. I want to learn and I believe that I may
qualify, Herr Weber.”
“Du bist Deutch?”
“Nein. Ich bien ein Austric-Ungar.”
The blue eyes had lost their
iciness, “Hungarians can be good
athletes and allies. Let Krasner show you to the locker room.”
For two years, I spent up to two
evenings a week and most Sundays at the gym.
Each session started with a lineup and a “Gut Heil” given with raised
right arm and forward facing palm. I quit the club as I was being groomed for
the Cleveland Turnfest, a private Olympics for Turners. I had learned about body building and
gymnastics but also the subtle inroads of racial propaganda became clear when
the “Gut Heil” became “Heil Hitler” and the Turn Verein became part of the
German American Bund.
_____________________________ 
_____________________________
I
still recall my terror, when in 1927 I watched from behind the iron gates in my
grandfather’s home in Debrezen, Hungary, as Bela Kun’s supporters marched and
yelled anti-Sematic slogans.