SECTION 1: Beginnings
The Nazi Olympics were hosted in Berlin in 1936. They were a way for Hitler and his Nazi party to show the world that Germany was a peaceful, kind country; ready to be forgiven. Also, it was a chance to prove the myth of Aryan superiority that Hitler and his follower’s believed, because if their athletes did well it would prove his point.
The 1936 Summer Olympics were granted to Germany because the International Olympic Committee (IOC), representing the Western half of the World, wanted to forgive Germany for World War I. This action would show that the world was ready to move on and forget World War I and Germany’s involvement. It would also give Germany a second chance to get back in the modern world.
At first, Hitler did not care that the Olympics were being hosted in his country. Only until his Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, alerted him to the fact that the Olympics would have a strong propaganda value, Hitler finally saw the importance of the Olympics. He decided to pay entirely for the finances of the Olympics, which came out to be 20,000,000 Reichsmarks ($8,000,000).
The propaganda value Hitler saw was for two different reasons. One is the Aryan racial superiority myth. According to the Nazi regime, an Aryan would have blue eyes and blond hair, in addition to being muscular and hero-like. If Hitler’s athletes, composed of Aryans, won at the Olympics, his idea of Aryan dominance would be proved true.
The second propaganda value Hitler saw was to boost his countries' image. Hitler wanted the world to see that Germany was now a peaceful, accepting country that held wealth, knowledge, and athleticism. In order for this to work, though, Hitler felt the need to clean up Germany. He had the anti-Jewish signs removed and replaced them with Swastikas and Olympic flags. Hitler and the Nazi’s also decided to clean up by taking 800 Gypsies, arresting them, and putting them in a camp under guard, away from the Games.
Many countries were debating whether or not to participate in the Olympic Games. Most felt that they would be encouraging the anti-Semitism going on in Germany by attending. The greatest place of debate over going was in the U.S., where sides were clearly drawn. Some said that politics should have no place in the Olympics, while others felt that by going they would be endorsing Hitler’s views on race and religion. A “People’s Olympiad” was planned by some to be a counter-olympics. It was to be held in Barcelona, Spain, but the plain was quickly dropped as the Spanish Civil War started. Rallies were held, boycotts were formed, but in the end the U.S. decided to go to the Olympics after a close vote, and most of the other countries followed suit, except for the Soviet Union, who decided not to go. Even though most countries went to the Olympics in Berlin, many individual Jewish athletes opted out of competing.
SECTION 2: Event
Forty-nine countries went to the Berlin Games, the highest amount of any Olympic Games from that point. Germany had the most athletes competing, at 348. The U.S. had the second highest amount of athletes competing at 312.
For the two weeks where athletes and visitors(especially journalists) were present, Germany made sure to hide its racist dictatorship where Jews, Gypsies, political enemies and others were persecuted. Germany had to make sure that it was presented to its visitors as a grand country. During the Olympics, amazing public events and rallies impressed the athletes and journalists. The Germans also made sure to have everything go according to plan, including nice treatment of the guests so that a lasting impression was made. One step Germany did to make this happen is that they passed laws and rules to treat blacks from other countries, especially America, with kindness and respect. Also, they shouldn’t openly question someone’s homosexuality. These rules, however, did not seem to apply to everyone. A big Nazi newspaper referred to the blacks in some issues as “auxiliaries” after some blacks won a couple of events, showing that the Aryans aren’t superior after all. Also, Hitler refused to shake any of the winning black athletes hands after some events, especially Jesse Owens. Germany's Minister of Propaganda privately called the wins by blacks “a disgrace”.
Jesse Owens was a member of the U.S. track team. He won four gold medals in different events of track and field, and with the medals he also set a couple world records. Jesse Owens was a very important athlete for the Olympics because of his race. As he was an African American, he disproved the Nazi’s idea of a superior Aryan race. The Nazi’s would not take this, though, and Hitler refused to shake Owen’s hand after his wins, which is a common protocol for the Olympics.
The Nazi games had to impress its visitors, to show that Germany was once again part of the world. So, to start the XIth Olympiad, Hitler was welcomed into the main stadium by the famous composer of the time, Richard Strauss, who was conducting musical fanfares. This was also the first year for a single runner to bring in a torch by relays from the place of the Ancient Olympics at Olympia, Greece.
Anti-Semitism wasn’t just done by the Germans, though. The Americans did an extremely controversial move by deciding to not have two Jewish relay runners compete, the day before the event. Many reasons were given for this action, one being that the coaches wanted the fastest men on the team, so they replaced the two Jewish athletes with Owens and Metcalfe, who were the team’s two fastest sprinters. One of the two Jewish athletes was convinced that the coaches were riled up by all of the anti-Semitism going on, and that they did not want to humiliate Hitler when two American Jews were on the winning podium. The other Jewish athlete who was replaced did not know why he was replaced, but was extremely embarrassed and upset by the whole ordeal.
SECTION 3: Results
After all the events were done, Hitler and the Germans came out victorious with the most medals earned by their athletes. However, the Aryan race myth did not come out victorious, as thirteen Jewish athletes won medals, as did fourteen African Americans. However, most of this was forgotten, and what was remembered by most was that Germany was now a peaceful, tolerant, and kind country, and the rest of the world was finally able to forgive Germany. Most newspapers wrote something similar to another, one paper saying that Germany was “back in the fold of nations”, and “more human again”, and other papers thought that this peaceful time would last forever. Only a couple reporters were able to see through the grandeur Germany created, and see its true core of a racist, militaristic regime.
Hitler, always thinking on the grand scale for his country, thought that after the 1940 Olympic Games took place in Tokyo, they should always be hosted in Germany, for the rest of time. This was said in a conversation between Hitler and Albert Speer, the general architectural inspector for the Reich, so it can be assumed that Hitler was in fact serious about the Olympics always being hosted in Germany.
There was so much propaganda in the actual Olympics itself that the Nazis could not stop there. Shortly after the Olympics, the great film maker Leni Riefenstahl was ordered by Hitler to make a movie about the Olympics. In 1938, the movie Olympia came out internationally. It was a very controversial documentary about the Olympic Games.
Some noted that the end of the Olympics was the end of the brief hiatus of hatred and anti-Semitism between the Nazis and the Jews. The German’s anti-Jewish campaign picked up right were it started after the Olympics ended, with persecution becoming even worse. The U.S. ambassador to Germany of the time sent back the information that the Jews awaited “with fear and trembling” the end of the Olympic truce. In fact, Captain Wolfgang Furstner, who was in charge of the Olympic village, committed suicide after he was told that he had been dismissed from active military service, because of his Jewish background. Another case of this was the German-Jew Gretel Bergmann, who was a big track star who fled to the U.S. to get away from persecution.
NAME: Peter P.P.
SECTION 1: Beginnings
The Nazi Olympics were hosted in Berlin in 1936. They were a way for Hitler and his Nazi party to show the world that Germany was a peaceful, kind country; ready to be forgiven. Also, it was a chance to prove the myth of Aryan superiority that Hitler and his follower’s believed, because if their athletes did well it would prove his point.
The 1936 Summer Olympics were granted to Germany because the International Olympic Committee (IOC), representing the Western half of the World, wanted to forgive Germany for World War I. This action would show that the world was ready to move on and forget World War I and Germany’s involvement. It would also give Germany a second chance to get back in the modern world.
At first, Hitler did not care that the Olympics were being hosted in his country. Only until his Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, alerted him to the fact that the Olympics would have a strong propaganda value, Hitler finally saw the importance of the Olympics. He decided to pay entirely for the finances of the Olympics, which came out to be 20,000,000 Reichsmarks ($8,000,000).
The propaganda value Hitler saw was for two different reasons. One is the Aryan racial superiority myth. According to the Nazi regime, an Aryan would have blue eyes and blond hair, in addition to being muscular and hero-like. If Hitler’s athletes, composed of Aryans, won at the Olympics, his idea of Aryan dominance would be proved true.
The second propaganda value Hitler saw was to boost his countries' image. Hitler wanted the world to see that Germany was now a peaceful, accepting country that held wealth, knowledge, and athleticism. In order for this to work, though, Hitler felt the need to clean up Germany. He had the anti-Jewish signs removed and replaced them with Swastikas and Olympic flags. Hitler and the Nazi’s also decided to clean up by taking 800 Gypsies, arresting them, and putting them in a camp under guard, away from the Games.
Many countries were debating whether or not to participate in the Olympic Games. Most felt that they would be encouraging the anti-Semitism going on in Germany by attending. The greatest place of debate over going was in the U.S., where sides were clearly drawn. Some said that politics should have no place in the Olympics, while others felt that by going they would be endorsing Hitler’s views on race and religion. A “People’s Olympiad” was planned by some to be a counter-olympics. It was to be held in Barcelona, Spain, but the plain was quickly dropped as the Spanish Civil War started. Rallies were held, boycotts were formed, but in the end the U.S. decided to go to the Olympics after a close vote, and most of the other countries followed suit, except for the Soviet Union, who decided not to go. Even though most countries went to the Olympics in Berlin, many individual Jewish athletes opted out of competing.
SECTION 2: Event
Forty-nine countries went to the Berlin Games, the highest amount of any Olympic Games from that point. Germany had the most athletes competing, at 348. The U.S. had the second highest amount of athletes competing at 312.
For the two weeks where athletes and visitors(especially journalists) were present, Germany made sure to hide its racist dictatorship where Jews, Gypsies, political enemies and others were persecuted. Germany had to make sure that it was presented to its visitors as a grand country. During the Olympics, amazing public events and rallies impressed the athletes and journalists. The Germans also made sure to have everything go according to plan, including nice treatment of the guests so that a lasting impression was made. One step Germany did to make this happen is that they passed laws and rules to treat blacks from other countries, especially America, with kindness and respect. Also, they shouldn’t openly question someone’s homosexuality. These rules, however, did not seem to apply to everyone. A big Nazi newspaper referred to the blacks in some issues as “auxiliaries” after some blacks won a couple of events, showing that the Aryans aren’t superior after all. Also, Hitler refused to shake any of the winning black athletes hands after some events, especially Jesse Owens. Germany's Minister of Propaganda privately called the wins by blacks “a disgrace”.
Jesse Owens was a member of the U.S. track team. He won four gold medals in different events of track and field, and with the medals he also set a couple world records. Jesse Owens was a very important athlete for the Olympics because of his race. As he was an African American, he disproved the Nazi’s idea of a superior Aryan race. The Nazi’s would not take this, though, and Hitler refused to shake Owen’s hand after his wins, which is a common protocol for the Olympics.
The Nazi games had to impress its visitors, to show that Germany was once again part of the world. So, to start the XIth Olympiad, Hitler was welcomed into the main stadium by the famous composer of the time, Richard Strauss, who was conducting musical fanfares. This was also the first year for a single runner to bring in a torch by relays from the place of the Ancient Olympics at Olympia, Greece.
Anti-Semitism wasn’t just done by the Germans, though. The Americans did an extremely controversial move by deciding to not have two Jewish relay runners compete, the day before the event. Many reasons were given for this action, one being that the coaches wanted the fastest men on the team, so they replaced the two Jewish athletes with Owens and Metcalfe, who were the team’s two fastest sprinters. One of the two Jewish athletes was convinced that the coaches were riled up by all of the anti-Semitism going on, and that they did not want to humiliate Hitler when two American Jews were on the winning podium. The other Jewish athlete who was replaced did not know why he was replaced, but was extremely embarrassed and upset by the whole ordeal.
SECTION 3: Results
After all the events were done, Hitler and the Germans came out victorious with the most medals earned by their athletes. However, the Aryan race myth did not come out victorious, as thirteen Jewish athletes won medals, as did fourteen African Americans. However, most of this was forgotten, and what was remembered by most was that Germany was now a peaceful, tolerant, and kind country, and the rest of the world was finally able to forgive Germany. Most newspapers wrote something similar to another, one paper saying that Germany was “back in the fold of nations”, and “more human again”, and other papers thought that this peaceful time would last forever. Only a couple reporters were able to see through the grandeur Germany created, and see its true core of a racist, militaristic regime.
Hitler, always thinking on the grand scale for his country, thought that after the 1940 Olympic Games took place in Tokyo, they should always be hosted in Germany, for the rest of time. This was said in a conversation between Hitler and Albert Speer, the general architectural inspector for the Reich, so it can be assumed that Hitler was in fact serious about the Olympics always being hosted in Germany.
There was so much propaganda in the actual Olympics itself that the Nazis could not stop there. Shortly after the Olympics, the great film maker Leni Riefenstahl was ordered by Hitler to make a movie about the Olympics. In 1938, the movie Olympia came out internationally. It was a very controversial documentary about the Olympic Games.
Some noted that the end of the Olympics was the end of the brief hiatus of hatred and anti-Semitism between the Nazis and the Jews. The German’s anti-Jewish campaign picked up right were it started after the Olympics ended, with persecution becoming even worse. The U.S. ambassador to Germany of the time sent back the information that the Jews awaited “with fear and trembling” the end of the Olympic truce. In fact, Captain Wolfgang Furstner, who was in charge of the Olympic village, committed suicide after he was told that he had been dismissed from active military service, because of his Jewish background. Another case of this was the German-Jew Gretel Bergmann, who was a big track star who fled to the U.S. to get away from persecution.