The 1936 Olympics, hosted by Nazi Germany, took a sporting event designed to promote goodwill among nations, and turned it into a global propaganda platform. At the time, the Games were still far from being the global attraction they are today. But the legacy of these games can still be seen in today's Olympics.
It was Goebels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, who saw the Olympics as the perfect opportunity to promote Nazi ideology such as Aryan superiority and socialism. The Olympics were a perfect fit for the Nazi agenda, not only because they promoted sports, but also because they promoted sports. Nazi spin-doctors used images of German athletes to spread the Aryan racial myth as a self-evident truth. The posters depicted German athletes as muscular, heroic, blond hair and blue eyed handsome men.
Surpisingly, the Nazis inaugurated a tradition that is still used today. German runner, Fritz Schilgen arrived in Berlin for the Olymipics bearning a lit torch carried by relay from the site of the ancient Games in Olympia.
The Olympics purposfully only showed the positive side of life in Nazi Germany. German newspapers and other media sources were supervised under strict censorship, with instructions to not say anything that would offend the guests. In fact, many poster gave positive reports on athletes from other countries.
One entirely different group also saw the Nazi Olympics as a platform to promote their own ideology. The African American community sent nineteen participants. While the common black man was harshly discriminated against, in sports, opportunites for them were also limited. Winning in an event that was meant to display the superiority of the Aryan race, would contradict the Nazis' purpose. Nevertheless, Jesse Owens won gold medals in multiple track and field events.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005680&utm_source=mktg_cal18&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=2018%20calendar#
Super great post Richard. I found this to be extremely interesting especially considering the part about how despite the fact many of us may look down upon this olympics because of the hosts, this was actually where our tradition of the torch bearing began. And while I would have liked to hear more about it, I loved the tidbit about Jesse Owens at the end. Apparently this olympics was also the debut of basketball as an olympic sport. According to NPR, the basketball games were held outside on dirt courts and "when it began to rain during the championship game, the court turned into a mud bowl and none of the players were able to dribble." (US beat Canada and took the Gold Medal)
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ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting post that makes clear how the Olympics took on a different meaning in 1936 than it did in other years. The Olympics generally brings a sense of unity along with competition among the different countries involved, as people from around the world come together to watch and support their competitors. However, it went far beyond that in 1936, as Nazi Germany took advantage of the chance to spread their messages about Aryan superiority and socialism. Jesse Owens is an extremely inspiring figure, and I did a little more research on him. Owens was one of eighteen African Americans to compete in the Olympics that year. The fact that he won four gold medals proved that there was no evidence behind Hitler's ideas of racial superiority. In fact, the record set by Jesse Owens in the track and field events of the 1936 Olympics would not be broken by any other American for 48 years.
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http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/owens-wins-4th-gold-medal