Today I paid a visit to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre to find out more about their current exhibition, “More than Just Games”, which focuses on Canada’s involvement with the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.

It’s a fascinating, yet haunting look at the games that occurred over 74 years ago just before World War II broke out.

I got to meet Joan McLagan, who was just 13 years old when she went to Berlin in 1936 to represent Canada as an Olympic Swimmer.

Here she is with her original team jacket which she wore during the opening ceremonies:

She discussed a number of topics related to her experiences including politics in Nazi-era Germany, how the Olympics have evolved since then and her uniform:

Also on hand today was Karen James, a Canadian Olympic Swimmer who went to Munich for the 1972 Games:

Karen describes her delimma of being a 2010 torch bearer and her close proximity to the hostage taking and subsequent murders that took place in 1972:

Here’s a photoset I took at the exhibition:

If you’re interested in finding out more about Canada’s involvement in previous Olympic games, the exhibition is on now until June 2010. Admission is by donation.

My thanks to Anita Webster and Frieda Miller for inviting me down to the exhibit today.

UPDATE: Looks like VANOC has pulled the torch run origins video that Karen James had mentioned she was concerned about.