The complex, with its capacity for enormous crowds, was never intended for athletic use alone; after the games it would—and did—serve “national” uses, which meant military or quasimilitary activities. Thus, the events here during the closing months of World War II were arguably suited to its original purpose: hundreds of accused deserters were summarily shot in a ravine; and, as happened throughout Germany, very young and very old men gathered here for induction into the “Volkssturm,”
