The Overshadow of the Berlin Games by the Holocaust and World War Two

The Olympics have shown over the decades that they can be affected by political conflict. However, it seems that this is the point of the Olympics, to illustrate national pride, by competition. Bloodshed should not be the way for pride of one’s country to be shown, but it should be shown through competition, in the words of the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de

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

Even though Hindenburg was re-elected with a ballot of 53%, Hitler was only marginally behind with a ballot of 36.8%. By the 1932 election, the Nazi’s accounted for 37.3% or 230 seats in the Reichstag. These figures meant that the Nazi party were the largest party in the Reichstag, although they did not have an outright majority and therefore could not assume automatic power. By January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg.

There was a power struggle in Germany after the 1932 election. Many of the political parties thought they could use Hitler's popularity to their advantage. The power struggle ended in the President asking Hitler to become Chancellor in January 1933. As chancellor, Hitler encouraged fear of communism and imprisoned thousands of his political opponents. In February 1933 the Reichstag building was set on fire and Hitler cleverly blamed the Communists, who were feared by many Germans. By August 1934 Germany was a single-party state and Hitler was dictator. Hitler used his power to reverse key decisions and limitations imposed by the treaty of Versailles.

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

There are quite a few factors that shaped the modern-day Olympics from 1892 to 2002. Pierre de Coubertin states that he wanted to create the Olympics to spread world peace. He does this by substituting war for friendly sports competitions (doc 1). Of course, there were some bumps in the road while trying to achieve this utopia. Some factors that have changed the Olympics are the allowing of women being able to compete in the Olympics, women’s suffrage, nationalism, wars, and economic conditions (doc 2-7).

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.

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

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

Adolph Hitler wanted the 1936 Berlin Olympics to be a large scale national spectacle. So that the rest of the world could see the glory of Nazi Germany, he hired film producer Leni

Soon after Hitler took power in 1933, questions began to arise from the United States and other Western democracies of whether or not they should support the idea of the Olympic Games hosted by the Nazi Regime. America was particularly concerned about the persecution of Jewish athletes that lived in Germany in 1933. In the United States, debate over participation in the 1936 Olympics was a hot topic. The U.S. always sent one of the largest teams to the Olympics. Groups on either side of the debate stated strong views of whether the United States should participate in the Olympics in Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

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

The Olympics, an event where the most physically fit push themselves to the extreme to win against other nations. In 1936, Adolph Hitler and the Nazis held the Olympics in Berlin, Germany. American athletes had a hard time deciding if they should travel to Berlin and take part in the Nazi Olympics. The Berlin Olympics was a personal issue for the American team, which included Jesse Owens. He wasn't sure that he should join the team because of the views that were expressed by the Nazis. Despite this, he had a lot to show the world.