Dora Ratjen - Later Life and Confusion

Later Life and Confusion

According to Der Spiegel, Dora, now Heinrich Ratjen, who later called himself Heinz, was issued with new ID and work papers and taken to Hanover "as a working man". He later took over the running of his parents' bar, and refused requests for interviews before his death in 2008.

However, in 1966, Time magazine reported that, in 1957, Dora had presented as Hermann, a waiter in Bremen, "who tearfully confessed that he had been forced by the Nazis to pose as a woman 'for the sake of the honor and glory of Germany'. Sighed Hermann: 'For three years I lived the life of a girl. It was most dull.'"

In 2009, the movie Berlin 36 presented a fictionalised version of the story presented by Time magazine. In the version of Ratjen's story presented as background to the movie, the Nazis supposedly wanted to ensure that Hitler would not be embarrassed by a Jewish athlete winning a gold medal for Germany at the Olympics, and Gretel Bergmann was replaced in the team by Ratjen. In 1938, Ratjen was supposedly then disqualified after the European Championships when a doctor discovered that he had strapped up his genitals. Asked for comment following the movie's release, Bergmann said she had "no idea" why Ratjen did what he did.

Der Spiegel refuted the story set out by Time, Bergmann and the movie, stating:

It's not clear if Time ever spoke to Ratjen. The information about him in the article is meager and imprecise, to say the least... Unfortunately this portrayal was the one that was circulated from that moment on, and repeated elsewhere in the press... For researchers and reporters who have looked into the Bergmann case and therefore also that of Ratjen, the story being served up for cinematic consumption simply doesn't match the facts. Experts who conducted background research for the movie have grave doubts. Sports writer Volker Kluge advised the makers of Berlin 36. His verdict is damning. "On the basis of the available documents, I think it is completely out of the question that the Nazis deliberately created Dora Ratjen as a 'secret weapon' for the Olympic Games."... Historian Berno Bahro wrote the book accompanying the film. He speaks of "clear deviations between reality and the cinematic representation"... He urged the filmmakers not to sell the movie as a "true story".