Nazi Olympics Essay

the time, and the Nazis were in power. Before the Olympics, German Jews had been segregated and

Ever since its inception in 1896, the Modern Olympics has hosted an invisible sport: politics. The Olympics calls for “a halt to all conflicts … [and to] strive towards a more peaceful world,” but politics soon spoiled its biennial message. “As the Olympics continue to dissolve into … a political competition … they no longer … justify the time and trouble,” Dave Anderson, Pulitzer Prize winner for his sports column, wrote in the New York Times in 1984. The Olympic spirit has routinely been used as an outlet for political agendas. With political and Olympic ambitions intersected, the great international sports festivity negatively affects all nations involved.

“The future of the German nation depends on its youth and the German youth shall have to be prepared for its future duties”

On July 14, 1933, Hitler’s Nazi party was declared the only legal political party in Germany. Hitler’s ways of gaining followers, worked well for him in the aspect of getting things done. He quickly created a fascist government and was focused on continually pleasing the people. However as the year went on, Hitler used his power for his own selfish hate against Jews. Unknown to many, Hitler and his Nazi regime instituted many laws and regulations that restricted and excluded Jews from society. These laws were known as Anti-Semetic. In 1936, Hitler paused the enforcement of the Anti-Semetic laws when Germany hosted winter and summer Olympics. Hitler hosted these games in an effort to avoid a negative world view on Germany and to essentially be on everyone’s good side. However soon after the Olympics, Hitler went right back to the persecuting of Jews. It began to escalate very

The 1972 Olympics basketball finals in Munich remains one of the most controversial Olympic games in history. Controversies of this match took both a sporting and political angle at the time because the two finalists, team USA and team USSR, came from a background of political competitions by virtue of them being the two most powerful nations on earth. The controversy happened in three “final three seconds.” Whatever happened to the medals remain equally controversial.

The 1972 Olympics were supposed to show that Germany had changed as a country. They were supposed to be “The Happy Games” but instead are remembered for the massacre of the Israeli athletes. The Munich Massacre has changed how terrorism is dealt with in different countries and in the Olympics as a whole.

Most people would classify the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 as just another Olympics, and they would be right because the Games did have the classic triumphs and upsets that occur at all Olympic Games. What most people did not see, behind the spectacle of the proceedings, was the effect the Nazi party had on every aspect of the Games including the results. Despite Nazi Germany’s determination to come off as the superior nation in the 1936 Olympics, their efforts were almost crushed by the very people they were trying to exclude.

The Nazi Olympics in Berlin in 1936 destroyed Hitler’s master race history. "There was very definitely a special feeling in winning the gold medal and being a black man," Woodruff said. "We destroyed [Hitler's] master race theory whenever we started winning those gold medals,” said runner John Woodruff (7). John Woodruff was a black man who won a gold medal. Another African American Jesse Owens won four track and field gold medals. These two people defied the Aryan ideal that Hitler believed that Aryan dominated the world. Another important impact the Olympic brought happened in 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. In that Olympics, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon refused to participate because of a dispute over the Suez Canal; Spain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands boycotted the Games in protest over the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary; China boycotted the Games because a flag of Taiwan was raised in the Olympic Village. The original purpose of the Olympics was to make the countries collaborate, however, it also brought negative impacts. Another example is that Olympics in Mexico city in 1968. Americans politicised the Games by letting two African Americans, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, represent the United States. Tommie Smith and John Carlos placed first and third in the track and field. During their medal ceremony, they raised a clenched fist above their

“No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas” (Advertising, Demonstrations, Propaganda* 98). This rule shows just what the Germans were hoping for, a peaceful, passive, war-free environment in which countries can get together and compete. Although we all know that quite the antithesis was upon the 1972 Olympics in Munich between September the fifth and September the sixth. The Munich Massacre, one of the worst massacres of all time, was driven by the vengefulness of the Palestinian group known as Black September, towards the people of Israel, or more relevantly, towards their Olympic team (Rosenberg). Since this confrontation between Palestine and

"...Sport is prostituted when sport loses its independent and democratic character and becomes a political institution...Nazi Germany is endeavoring to use the Eleventh Olympiad to serve the necessities and interests of the Nazi regime rather than the Olympic ideals."

After this, you imposed barbaric and cruel sanctions on the Jewish people. These sanctions included public markings and allowing segregation against them in commercial establishments. The Nuremberg laws forbade non-jews and jews from marrying, and kept them from being citizens. During the Berlin Olympics of 1938 you removed these sanctions temporarily, showing that you actually KNEW that what you were doing was wrong and immoral and didn’t

The 1972 Summer Olympics were an international multi-sport event. Another name for that Olympic Game was the 1972 Olympics Massacre. It was the 20th Olympic Games. It was held in Munich, Germany from August 26, 1972 to September 11, 1972.The 1972 Olympics were the second Olympics to be held in Germany. The first Olympic Games that were held in Germany occur in 1936 in Berlin, which occurred during the Nazi regime. The Olympic Committee in West Germany was hoping to get rid of the military image of Germany. They were tired of the image that was portrayed by the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which Hitler used for his own benefit. Also, tensions were high due to the fact that the last games occurred during the Nazi regime. The Israeli athletes and

Most Germans hoped that the 1972 Olympics would help to heal the racial damage caused by the 1936 Olympics. It was the first time the games had returned to the state since Nazism

Roosevelt did not expect Americans to remain emotionally neutral in regards to the conflict. Roosevelt knew that the only way the British and French would be able to beat the Germans would be if they were provided with ample supplies of weapons. Roosevelt immediately began to pressure Congress to repeal the arms embargo to effectively overturn the essence of the Neutrality Acts, which would allow America to come to the aid of its allies.

First of all, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The man responsible for its rebirth was a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest pageant of athletic skill and competitive spirit.