> I've always been fascinated by the idea that racing still occurred in
> occupied (and Vichy) France during WW2, but I never imagined there'd
> still be motorpacing in Paris as late as July of 1943. At a time when
> huge numbers of civilian motos, cars, and trucks had been confiscated
> for war use, and many remaining civilian vehicles had been converted
to
> burn wood gas, gasoline for sports use must have been a real luxury.
>
I guess one mustn´t compare cycle racing with transport efficiency measures in Occupied France or wartime Germany, but rather with the movie industry. Strange as this may sound, the idea behind is distraction, making people happy and making them forget the war for a few minutes to afford them a little recreation - to let them get back to their grim tasks with renewed energy after. Even in early 1945, with
Soviet forces approaching fast, major movie projects were finished in the big Prague studios. There´s a TV documentary which has an interview with famous actor and entertainer Johannes "Joopie" Heesters, a Dutchman, still performing today at age 102, describing how just this happened with a major screening of "Die Fledermaus".
It is quite obvious from many sources that cycle racing was very popular in Europe during the thirties, up until the late twenties even
more so than soccer, and especially so demi fond / Steher /stayer racing. Unloved as it was by the fascists (Carl Diem, who wasn´t one,
but stood rather close, doesn´t even mention the greatest stayer racers in his universal history of sports), because they for some reason accused it of "false artistry", and to be un-arian, they could not put
a stop to it, and so would use it unashamedly for their ends, investing
a fraction of the funds and energy a movie would cost.
Looking forward to many more pics of the day.
Regards, Toni Theilmeier, Belm, Germany.