A tragedy transformed: 40 years after fencing accident, Ukraine war reunites impacted families

When the bombs started falling in Ukraine in February, a retired Olympic fencer began making calls to a woman in the capital, Kyiv. 

The fencer, Matthias Behr, and the woman, Emma Smirnova, are bound by a tragedy that predated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by almost 40 years. A black-and-white photo of Behr captures the anguish. 

It was taken at the 1982 World Fencing Championships in Rome after Behr’s foil blade broke during a match against Vladimir Smirnov, a Ukrainian fencer representing the Soviet Union who was married to Emma Smirnova. The broken blade penetrated the Ukrainian fencer’s mask and pierced his eye orbit. 

That July 28, after nine days on life support, Smirnov died. He was 28. 

Forty years after his death, during war, the story has evolved.

“Matthias and I both experienced a terrible tragedy each in our own way,’’ Emma, who has remarried, told Paste BN Sports via email. “This story is so incredible.’’

With the Russian military initially targeting Kyiv, Behr has provided shelter for Emma’s two grandchildren and her son-in-law, despite Behr long fearing Emma wanted nothing to do with him.

“When they started bombing on the very first day, my son-in-law and children came to us,’’ Emma wrote. “We heard explosions, windows shook, planes flew, but we were not bombed. It was very scary, especially for the children.’’ 

Behr, 67, has told journalists that he wrote to Smirnova in the 1980s but never heard back. He has suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts stemming from his memories of the fatal accident. 

“They are always there,’’ Behr told Archysport in May of the memories. “Even if I go into a liquor store and see vodka with the Smirnov label on it, the thoughts of what happened immediately come back to me.’’

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Letters, a documentary and finally a meeting

Behr, who had won an Olympic gold medal in the team foil competition at the 1976 Games, temporarily stopped fencing after Smirnov’s death.

He later won two Olympic silver medals at the 1984 Games and one silver at the 1988 Games. Behr declined to talk to Paste BN Sports for this story and indicated he still can get overwhelmed when answering questions about Smirnov's death.

Emma said she never received letters from Behr. 

“For many years I didn’t think about Matthias, didn’t blame him for anything, and for some time now thoughts began to come - he probably thinks that I curse him,’’ she wrote. “I began to think, how can I tell him that this is not so.’’ 

The first opportunity to do that came in 2017, when two filmmakers who made a documentary about Behr in 2016 helped bring the retired fencer and Smirnova together. There were long talks and a visit to the cemetery where Vladimir Smirnov is buried and a statue erected in his honor. 

"I will never forget the moment, when Michael Dittrich told Matthias on the phone, that we found Emma Smirnova in Kyiv and that we already had a message from her that she was 'ready for contact,'" Pirmin Styrnol, one of the filmmakers, told Paste BN Sports via email. “I think he was totally shocked, happy, and scared at the same time. 

“He often thought of reaching out to her, but it was almost impossible because of the Cold War. When we started filming, he told us, that he wrote her a letter in the late 80s, but she didn’t respond. That’s why he thought she might not want to be in contact with him. Today we know: She never received his letter. We cannot say why, but it is very likely that someone in the Soviet Union didn’t want Matthias and Emma to get in touch. It took 34 years for them to get the chance to talk.’’ 

The two stayed in touch after Behr returned to Germany, and Behr’s calls grew frequent after Russia invaded Ukraine and targeted Kyiv, the country’s capital and Smirnova’s hometown. His calls grew more frequent and he kept asking the same question: How could he help? 

Emma finally had an answer. 

She needed refuge for her two grandchildren, Artemy and Evgeny, and their father, Andrey. So they left Ukraine for Germany, with Behr and his wife, Zita, awaiting their arrival. 

“To send children to him was his initiative,’’ Emma wrote. “He and Zita were ready to take the children into the family.’’ 

The children and their father reached Germany in March, according to Emma. 

“Mattias (sic) met them and settled them, assisting them in all matters relating to their residence in Germany, and the whole Matthias family takes an active part in the lives of children,’’ she wrote. 

In an interview with Bunte magazine, Behr said, “It has come full circle for me. It was a gift for me: I can finally give something back.”

'My new family'

In June, the children and their father moved into an apartment, which Zita helped find, according to Emma.  

Behr refers to the grandchildren and their father as “my new family,’’ wrote Styrnol, the filmmaker. 

Wrote Emma, “Matthias continues to take care of them, like a father, the children can always ask questions or for help. Thanks to Mattias, (sic) I am calm for the children, and this is very important for me.’’

Emma said she and her second husband have moved to the suburbs outside Kyiv and live in a dacha - a country house or cottage - built by her second husband.  

Her grandchildren never knew their grandfather, the Ukrainian fencer who died in tragic fashion. But now, she noted, they are watched over by the man who accidentally killed him 40 years ago.

“I return to the events of 1982 only when I am asked about it,’’ Emma wrote. “What happened and what I had to endure is very difficult to remember. 

“On the anniversary of his death, we remember (him) with bright, good memories. Yes, and so often remembered.’’

Emma said she thinks Smirnov would approve of the relationship she and Behr have forged.

"Why I say this with such confidence is because all these years I have felt his presence in my life," Emma wrote. "There are many examples of this. Even now, after so many years, it is Mattias who saves my children, the grandchildren of Vladimir Smirnov."