1936 Olympics Research Paper

In 1931, before the Weimar Republic was seized by National Socialists, Berlin was announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be the location of the 11th Olympic Games. Since the Games origins in Athens, the Olympics have evolved to introduce the code of equality of all races and faiths for nations- all of which was controversial during the Third Reich. However, because of the aftermath of World War I, many accounts suggest that the Nazi regime used the 1936 Olympic games as a showcase of the transformation of the country. But due to many restrictions placed around committees, historians can trace that anti-Semitic ideas and beliefs were abundant during the Games. Due to much controversy, some of the restrictions were to be revoked

during the Games by the Nazi party, as well as removal of anti-Semitic medium.
Hosted at such a large and lavish scale, the German hosts portrayed themselves as friendly and peace-loving. Under the Führer, Adolf Hitler, sports were emphasized as a duty to the German volk to live a healthy lifestyle. In Mein Kamp he wrote, “Not a day may go by on which a young person does not complete an hour of physical training each morning and night, and that includes every form of sports and gymnastics” (Third Reich 707). For after the First World War, the country had a lot of reparations and amends to make up to the other countries. During the Third Reich, Germany placed emphasis on the importance of athletics; that the ideal body be beautiful and built with speed and agility. Those who promoted National Socialism saw that sports were not about breaking records, but rather building a healthy lifestyle.
Though Germany at the time was trying to portray the country as strong and enduring after World War I, the country’s anti-Semitic ideology was well known across borders.

American citizens pleaded to the International Olympic Committee to take away the 1936 Olympics in Berlin by boycotting. Their prevalence caused panic, as Germany worried that the United States and England would not compete in the 11th Olympic Games. To downplay majority of the Nazi rhetoric’s, the committee responded by instating that all anti-Semitic mediums be temporarily removed in the public spaces near the Olympic village. In accordance with the troubling controversy, the United States too sent its President of the American Olympic Committee, Avery Brundage, overseas to confront the German committee about their racial policies. In 1933, The President of the German Olympic Committee, Dr. Theodor Lewald, pledged that the German Olympics will see that all laws shall be observed. Given this, German Jews shall not be excluded from the German teams at the games. In short, the pledge stated that all qualified athletes would be allowed to compete. Critics cited that in general, the treatment of Jewish athletes had introduced race into the Olympic Games, as well as religion and politics. All of which were to be separate from under governmental

control.

However, after the approval of the pledges about the inclusion of those under Jewish descent, the regime began to introduce new laws that demoted those who were considered non-German. On November 30th 1935, Germany enacted the Nuremberg Laws- excluding Jews from German citizenship. Following the new laws was the Maccabee League of Jewish Athletes. The league forbade Jewish candidates from participation in the Olympics since non-Aryans were deprived of citizenship, and only those who were citizens of the country could compete.
While the vast majority of the German teams were composed of only pure Germans, there were some exceptions. Germany proposed, in the case of Helene Mayer, an Olympic fencer that was labelled as a German Jew, that she was personally invited on behalf of Germany to compete in the 1936 Olympics. However, because of the Nuremberg Laws passed in 1935, she was not allowed to train at sports facilities due to her being half-Jewish. Perhaps it was only her past metals that she had won at previous Games that she was allowed to compete or the fact that she still had personal ties with the country, she did in the end join the German Olympic team in 1936.
Most would agree that Helene Mayer was an exception to the anti-Semitic ideals at the time.

One famous athlete that has been debatably persecuted by Hitler was Jesse Owens, an African American sprinter on the United States Olympic team. After winning three gold medals already, he had been ordered to switch places with two other American Jewish U.S. teammates; a controversial move. Given that the replacement enabled the United States to win another gold, it displayed the country’s fear of discrimination, had the other teammates lost. The reaction to Owen’s victory, however, was not celebrated by everyone. There are many claims that Hitler snubbed Owen’s by not shaking his hand to congratulate him. But there are also proposals that Hitler did not congratulate any of the competitors to remain Olympic neutrality. Given that both affiliates are deceased, the topic as of now remains unknown but often

disputed.
Anti-Semitism had always been a long run goal of Hitler’s rein during the Third Reich. The ideology had progressed to the point that the notions were familiar across borders in other countries. Well before the National Socialism took over Germany, the IOC declared in 1931 Berlin as the host of the 11th Olympics. This caused much controversy and confrontation between many of the countries; especially the United States. With threats and tactics, that eventually failed, the American team competed anyway to prove that the Aryan ideals were false; that they were not superior to those deemed non-German. With the presence of the Nuremberg Laws passed the year before the Games, it excluded many of the Jewish athletes from competing- with few exceptions such as Helene Mayer. In the end, the host country won with a total of 89 medals; a record breaking amount for Germany. Perhaps their victory was set to prove that the nation had transformed and recovered after World War I, but only a few years later did they know that they were being prepared for the coming of another war based on their antics of their Führer.