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1936 Olympics Dbq Essay

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“There is no room for discrimination,” James Mahoney said, “on the grounds of race, color, or creed in the Olympics” (Jeremy Schaap). The statement above is definitely true. The 1936 Olympics were hosted in Berlin at a time when the Nazis were in power. Did the Nazis hold true to that statement? Believe it or not the 1936 Olympics actually had an effect on the holocaust.
To begin, the 1936 Olympics were important and unique in several ways. One reason is Anti-Semitism actually slowed down during the games. Another point is they were the first Olympics to have a torch relay, a tradition which is still in practice today. Next, it was the first Olympics to be televised, but only to special viewing booths around Berlin. Finally, after his display at the Olympics, people thought Hitler may have been almost …show more content…

Initially, the Nazi’s propaganda minister convinced Hitler it was a great opportunity to warp people’s minds with their propaganda. Hitler also thought it was a great chance to prove his theory of Aryan racial superiority. But, he was proven wrong when the African American Jesse Owens won four gold medals (Gabi Mezger) . Finally, Berlin was actually the decided host before Hitler came to power but they still supported them just as much. The Nazi’s didn’t host an Olympics just for fun, there were actually many political reasons behind the event.
Next, although they weren’t, had the 1936 Olympics been boycotted by America, it may have affected the end result of the holocaust. America was only three votes away from boycotting the Olympics. Jeremiah Mahoney was the leader in the attempt to stay home from Germany. If the Americans had boycotted it would have destroyed the Nazi’s attempt to spread propaganda. According to “The Nazi Party: The Nazi Olympics”, Russia did the right thing and didn’t attend the Olympics. America was very close to doing the smart thing and boycotting the 1936

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