The Consequences of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin

The issuing of the 1936 Olympics to Berlin during the era of Nazi Germany brought about major controversy among the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the world at large. By dismissing a boycott to the Olympics in Berlin, the power of Nazi rule was not only accepted, but augmented among the many nations who participated in the Summer Games. Many countries, most importantly the United States, had the opportunity to boycott the games, but on December 8th, 1935, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) denied the opposition to having the Games in Berlin by two and a half mere votes. As a result, many of Hitler’s Nazi and “pro Aryan” ideals were spread using the Olympic Games as the primary vehicle to shuttle its propaganda, which consequently affected many of the Nazi Party’s appalling actions in the future.

One of Hitler’s means of racial promotion was to only let Germans (Aryans) participate on the German National Team. Hitler and his party believed that anyone not Aryan, according to the Reich, was an “inferior” human. Additionally, even after the Games were over, tools such as Leni Riefenstahl’s film, Olympia, were used by the Nazi Party to further promote their radical ideals. Overall, Hitler’s regime pumped over twenty million Reichsmarks, equivalent to eight million U.S. dollars into the proliferation of Nazi propaganda. By being allowed to boast obviously bogus claims and ideals, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels was able to boost Nazi beliefs not only domestically, but on an international stage. Inevitably, had the IOC boycotted the Olympics and disallowed this extremist behavior, the Nazi Party’s future atrocities and gain in influence could have been curbed significantly.

Timeline Leading Up to the Berlin Olympics

1916

The Olympics were originally planned to be held within Berlin in 1916 officially the Sixth Olympic games. However with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to take the drastic step of canceling the Sixth Olympiad all together. While offers to host the Olympics else where (including Chicago, London, and Madrid) rolled in the IOC deemed their cancelation to be final.

1930-1931

After almost a decade after the end of the First World War, Germany is once again awarded the Olympics, this time Berlin is selected to be the host for the 1936 Olympics. For a self-proclaimed non-political organization, the IOC had obviously political intentions with the placement of the Eleventh Olympiad as a means to signify the reemergence of Germany as on the world stage after their defeat in WWI.

While the rise of the Nazi Empire could have hardly been accurately predicted, we postulate that had the IOC put more effort into researching the German population and mentality, instead of trying to reenergize a nation, that they might have been able to detect the dangerously fast rising German nationalism and pre-empted any future debates of boycott after Hitler's rise to power.

1933 - 1935

Rise of the Third Reich

Adolf Hitler become Chancellor of Germany in early 1933. Initially Hitler was not all together interested in making the Olympic Ceremonies a large affair. However his Minister of Propaganda Goebbels convinced him of the potential of the Olympics to spread the ideals of the Third Reich while simultaneously showing the superiority of the Aryan race.

Exclusion of Jews from Olympics

Initially Hitler saw little value in the 1936 Olympics, it was only after his Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels convinced him of the potential of the Olympic stage for proliferating Aryan propaganda on a world stage.

One of the main tenants of Hitler's ideology was the inferiority and inherent 'evil' of the Jewish race. Starting soon after his rise to power Hitler began a systematic exclusion of the Jewish race from the German nation.

In relation to the 1936 Olympics the Nazi regime banned all Jewish youth from participating in any public and school related physical education. Jewish athletes (regardless of talent) were not allowed in any gymnasiums or training facilities effectively banning their inclusion as competitors in the Berlin Olympics.

The establishment of the Nuremburg Laws in 1935 took away the citizenships of German Jews, stripping away any legal ability for a Jewish athlete to participate in the Olympics as they were no longer citizens of Germany and therefore not eligible to participate.

The exclusion of Jews from legal citizenship and any sporting venues should have been reason alone for the boycott and political statement to be made by the world community to send a message to the Third Reich

Non-Aryan Participation in the Berlin Olympics

Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals at the 1936 Olympics

The Third Reich's views on the purity and sanctity of the Aryan race led Hitler to ban all non-aryans from the German national team. However his view of a "perfect" race was dealt multiple blows when participants from other countries of varying ethnicities and races won multiple Gold medals. Athletes such as Jesse Owens and his other African-American teammates who went on to account for 13 medals in total (7 gold, 3 silver & bronze), along with other participants from many other countries, refuted any claims of racial superiority put forth by the Nazi party about the Aryan race.

"Die Amerikaner sollten sich schämen, Vermietung Neger gewinnen die Medaillen für sie. Ich werde nicht die Hand mit dieser Negro ....... glaubst du wirklich, daß ich mir erlauben, sich fotografieren zu Händeschütteln mit einem Neger werden"

[The Americans should be ashamed of themselves, letting Negroes win their medals for them. I shall not shake hands with this Negro.......do you really think that I will allow myself to be photographed shaking hands with a Negro?]

-Hitler

Video footage of Jesse Owens and the 1936 Olympics

Gold medal winning 1936 Indian National Field Hockey team

Boycott Sentiments

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.

"Olympia" by Leni Riefenstahl

Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's IOC commissioned film, "Olympia", released in 1938, highlighted the 1936 Games in a grandiose fashion, but arguably served as a means of spreading Nazi propaganda throughout Germany and the rest of the world at large. Although not to the extent of her previous film, "Triumph of the Will", her interpretation of the Olympic Games in Berlin highlighted the German athletes and the Olympiastadion in an almost divine fashion. The prologue of the film begins with an interpretation of the origin of the Greek Olympics, and serves to compare the German nation to that of Ancient Greece, which was a powerful nation during its time in history.

However, it is worth mentioning that Riefenstahl, having received criticism for her seemingly pro-Nazi films in years past, decided to include the American athlete Jesse Owens in many of the film's clips. Jesse Owens' presence serves as a stark contrast to many of the Aryan figures which pervade much of the film. In the end, however, Leni Riefenstahl's film captures the essence of what was considered to be "Hitler's Olympics", and was received well by the German nation upon its release.

Joseph Goebbels: Propaganda Minister

“German sport has only one task: to strengthen the character of the German people, imbuing it with the fighting spirit and steadfast camaraderie necessary in the struggle for its existence.”

- Joseph Goebbels

Joseph Goebbels was one of the first individuals of the Third Reich to realize that the Olympics in Berlin could be used as a showcase for German superiority. Interestingly enough, at the outset, Hitler was not too enthusiastic about hosting the Games in Germany. His viewpoint radically changed when Goebbels proposed the idea of promoting the German nation using the Olympiastadion as a major tool to do so. Naturally, Goebbels and Hitler exploited the fact that many thousands of individuals across the world would be uniting at a single point in Berlin. As such, the regime poured in roughly twenty million Reichmarks to the cause of promoting Aryan dominance and showcasing that to the world.

Olympic Medal Count

The overall medal results showed Germany in full dominance of the 1936 Olympics. These medal results only furthered Hitler's insane idea of racial superiority, while he conveniently forgot the numerous medals won by athletes of non-aryan heritage. His reign and foolish ideas would soon be taken down as in less than a decade later the Third Reich would fall in the second World War

Hitler's Plan for Germany

"In 1940 the Olympic Games will take place in Tokyo. But thereafter they will take place in Germany for all time to come, in this stadium."

- Hitler

Hitler's premier Nazi architect, Albert Speer, designed the above model as the location where Hitler believed Germany would hold the Olympic Games for "all time to come". Indeed, the German victory of the 1936 Games, with its compelling display of Berlin and the German nation as a whole, gave Adolf Hitler the ego boost to brazenly assume he could take over the sacred Games indefinitely, and hold them in Speer's 400,000 person capacity super-stadium.

Ironically, both the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games would cease to exist, for it seems Hitler's momentum from the Olympics carried his nation not into a competition on the athletic field, but into a war on the battlefield. When the Second World War began, any plans for the Olympic Games returning to Germany seemed to morph into a more extreme plan for Hitler's empire to take over the globe.

It is interesting to dwell on the theory that the 1936 Olympics, and Germany's victory, gave Hitler's Regime the confidence to move forward and invade Poland to start the war. Similarly, did Hitler and Goebbel's spread of Nazi Propaganda give them the idea that the world was prepared for a Nazi takeover? It is certainly plausible that had the Olympics not occurred in Berlin in 1936, Germany's accelerated takeovers and atrocities throughout the globe would not have occurred.

An Unlikely Friendship

Olympic Long Jump Podium Picture at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

(From Left to Right) Naoto Tajima [Bronze] Jesse Owens [Gold] Luz Long [Silver]

"It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment."

—Jesse Owens

In the midst of 4 gold medal history altering performance at the 1936 Olympics, Jesse Owens came into Berlin and went on to make an unlikely friendship.

His Long Jump competition was the most hostly contested of all of his eventual medals. In the middle of the final round German athlete Luz Long (himself a competitor in the same event) gave Owens a series of instructions on how to improve his Long Jump distance result. Owen's followed those instructions and went on to win a gold in the competition (with Long winning silver). As a result of Long's advice, he and Owens went on to forge a life long friendship.

Luz Long could very well have been a poster boy for the Aryan nation and their athletes. Tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes, Long was the epitome of a strapping Aryan youth and was expected to easily handle the "inferior" african-american athlete. By advising Owens in the midst of their competition, Long prioritized the ideals of sportsmanship over racist ideologies.

The ability to analyze history from the comfort of a textbook or computer allows for us today to take on extreme viewpoints on history's most polarizing figures. We sometimes fail to realize that there are various grey areas within what we immediately label as "good" or "evil" "right" or "wrong" While we in no way condone the actions of the Nazi Empire and their hellacious treatment of Jews and other persecuted minorities, as impartial advocates for the truth there must be some room dedicated to those who reside within an 'evil' empire who are in fact decent people.

For respecting Owen's as an athlete and a competitor, Luz Long was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal by International Olympic Committee (IOC) posthumously, to celebrate and honor his demonstration of the Olympic spirit and sportsmanship.

Luz Long and Jesse Owens, relaxing on the Olympiastadia Pitch

Bibliography

List of Sources:

1. http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/olympics/detail.php
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Summer_Olympics
3. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-olympics.htm
4. "From Athens to Berlin: The 1936 Olympics and Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia" by Michael Mackenzie
5. "Complete Idiot's Guide to Nazi Germany" by Robert Smith Thompson
6. Ebony Magazine: April 2006 Issue
7. "The Nazi Olympics: sport, politics and appeasement in the 1930s" by Arnd Krüger, William J. Murray
8. "Hitler's Olympics: the story of the 1936 Nazi Games" by Anton Rippon
9. "Nazi Games: the Olympic of 1936" by David Clay Large
10. "Historical Dictionary of the Modern Olympic Movement" by John E. Findling and Kimberly D. Pelle