historypodep3

The 1936 Berlin Olympics were successful in terms of sports, but many nations were hesitant to participate due to the atrocities happening in Nazi Germany. Some saw participation as a protest or a chance for athletic success, while others wanted to maintain peace. Despite the large participation, many athletes wanted to boycott the Olympics to protest against the Holocaust and the violation of human rights in Germany. The decision to participate was influenced by political, peacekeeping, and sporting considerations. Athletes of color used the Games to challenge Hitler's racist ideology, with Jesse Owens winning four gold medals. The Games highlighted international relations and brought attention to discrimination. They also paved the way for future Olympic protests. The 1936 Berlin Olympics are seen by most as a legendary showcase of sports. From world records to photo finishes in races, and being the biggest ever at the time, these games were an absolute success, even by today's standards. These games were also hosted during the Third Reich in Germany. So how come that many nations participated in these Nazi games, considering the atrocities occurring in Germany at the time? I'm Henny Hayate, and this is the third episode of The Prime Burner on the history of modern athletics. Presence at the games was a decision based on the costs and benefits of supporting an event in Nazi Germany. For some, participation was an occasion for protest or athletic success, whereas others thought participating would prolong peace as part of the appeasement policy. 51 nations were present at these games, the most ever. The U.S. team had 312 athletes, of which 5 were Jews and 19 were African-American. Germany's team was the largest, with 348 competitors. Feel free to check out an article by The History Place for the details of these games. Many nations were hesitant to participate, and many athletes chose not to go because they were against or felt threatened by Hitler's ideology. Famously, Hermann Neugass, a Jewish-American sprinter, refused to participate for the U.S., even though he was the fastest 200-yard sprinter in 1935. The Tulane Hulab Lalu has an article about this for more info. Likewise, many other European and American Jews boycotted the games to protect themselves and to protest their disagreement for the fascist games. The Olympics were a great chance for people to speak out against Hitler's regime and open debates about Nazism. Foreign athletes of color or Jews were treated very well during the games, as a way to mask Nazism and to publicize a positive image of Germany. However, few were fooled by this facade. The press was quick to report on Nazi racist beliefs. Here is what the Reading Eagle had to say about this in 1936. Germany, under the oral lashings of Adolf Hitler and Josef Paul Gulen, has been driven to believe that Nordics, and Nordics alone, count. Before the games started, German papers carried editorials in which they pointed out that while some of the blacks on the American team might win, German athletes who were beaten by them should not be downcast or disappointed, for it was the same as being beaten by animals. Reading Eagle, 1936. Such beliefs, held by Nazis, made many nations hesitant to participate. Despite large participation at the games, many athletes across the world were in favor of boycotting the Olympics. Jewish athletes especially weren't keen to participate to protest against the Holocaust underway in Germany. As the SYMHC podcast explains, Catholic associations in the US were especially against the Third Reich's game. Judge Jeremiah Mahoney of the Amateur Athletic Union claimed Germany wasn't conforming with Olympic standards of human rights, especially after the Nuremberg Laws were passed. At the same time, many leaders were in favor of participation because they wanted to avoid conflicts with Germany or because they thought politics and sport shouldn't mix. These feelings were often dominant, explaining why participation was so large. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum describes that Avery Brundage, from the International Olympic Committee, ended up convincing the US not to boycott the games because he felt peace and respect for divergent political beliefs was the essence of modern Olympics. False reports from Germany also confused arbiters in determining the actual state of human rights in Germany. Germans were instructed to be nice to all foreigners of color and to remove anti-Jewish signs, as Howard Burns explained in a great article. Here's what the Committee on Fair Play in Sports thought about participation in the games in 1935. Sport is prostituted when sport loses its independent and democratic character and becomes a political institution. Nazi Germany is endeavoring to use the 11th Olympiad to serve the necessities and interests of the Nazi regime rather than the Olympic ideals. Despite the importance and presence of these arguments, many participants threw razor-sharp close votes on national Olympic councils. Many Jewish athletes ended up boycotting and German-Jewish athletes were barred from entry. Another reason for the large participation in the games was that athletes of color were empowered to disprove Hitler's racist ideology by performing especially well. Most notably, Jesse Owens won four gold medals for the US, a record at the time. He became friends with German long-jumper Lutz Long, even though he was black. The mainly German audience couldn't help but clap and cheer at all of Owens' prowesses. Feel free to check out the same 1936 article by The Reading Eagle to hear about support for Jesse Owens. Many historians regard Owens' triumph as a major blow to Hitler. Here Mr. Ford explains, In 1936, when Jesse Owens or an Adolf Hitler broke the racist dogma of the Nazi state, there was a strong movement in the US against our participation in the games. As it turned out, US participation in those Olympics provided a sharp rebuke of Hitler's racist rubbish. Five black American athletes won eight gold medals in track and field. One American athlete in particular proved that excellence knows no racial or political limits. That man is Jesse Owens. Ford, 1976. One of the issues often overlooked for the participation of American athletes of groups discriminated by Nazis was that conditions in the US for people of color were historically similar to conditions in Nazi Germany in 1935 and 1936. African Americans were discriminated against under Jim Crow laws, which the Nazis famously used for inspiration. The Holocaust Memorial of Houston has a great article about this. This knowledge can aid our understanding of this Owens quote after the Olympic Games. Hitler didn't snub me. It was our president who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram. Owens was welcomed and cheered on in Germany way more than he was at home by white Americans, including the president of the very same nation he represented so well internationally. The Nazi Olympics were a great showcase of international relations prior to World War II. Many countries turned a blind eye to events in Germany Protest was present all around the Games, with many boycotting and committees torn over whether to participate or not. American athletes of color used the Games to disprove Nazi ideologies. These Games were a stepping stone for larger Games to come after the war and brought more scrutiny to host nations in future Games. They also were one of the first occasions for discriminated athletes to protest, which led to future Olympic protests, such as the Black Power Stand in 1968. They serve as an important reminder to never be silent in the face of injustices.