Boycott Sentiments
From the moment Hitler was elected the IOC stated concerns about the planned Olympics to be held Berlin. The Olympics were conceived and held in the spirit sportsmanship, equality, and meant to foster friendship amongst everyone. The radical ideologies of the Third Reich conflicted with all of those peaceful tenants and ideas of boycott started to swirl around the world community.
"The very foundation of the modern Olympic revival will be undermined if individual countries are allowed to restrict participation by reason of class, creed, or race... Participation in these games must not be construed to be an endorsement of the policies and practices of the Nazi government and the anti-boycott forces. Measures have been adopted to ensure that there will be no violation of the fundamental principles of fair play and sportsmanship, or the Olympic standards of freedom and equality to all."
-Avery Brundage (American Olympic Committee President in 1933)
Despite his harsh words Brundage later altered his statement. Saying that "..the Olympics belong to the athletes" and should not involve politics and nearing the 1936 lead the anti-boycott movement. Around the world, boycott movements started to lose energy and eventually very few countries actually did boycott the Olympics. (It should be noted that Jewish athletes from many countries decided to abstain from participating in the Olympics due to the Nazi persecution of German-Jews)
We believe that the world community missed a perfect opportunity to send a message to the Nazi Empire and Hitler about their tactics. While the game of "what if" can be played within many scenarios, it is not far out of the realm of reason that a verbal outcry could have at the very least curbed the vigor of the Nazi expansionist policies. The results of the overall Olympic medals gave Hitler a boost of confidence in his ideas of racial superiority, and if a boycott had gone through, perhaps his grandiose visions might have not affected so many in the following decade.
