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The modern Olympic Games is an international sporting event held every four years at different sites throughout the world. Many countries, totaling more than ten thousand athletes, compete against each other in a variety of sports. Began in Athens, Greece, in 186, the Games were established to promote a more peaceful world. Although an athletic event, numerous countries have used the Olympics as an opportunity to make a political statement. One such Olympics were the 16 Olympics in Berlin, Germany…The Nazi Olympics. Due to the Spanish Revolution, the Spanish athletes returned home before the finish of the games. Brazil sent two teams, each representing a different political viewpoint. They were both barred from competing. And then there was the host country Germany. In the following pages you will read about a sinister leader of that country trying to prove to the world that the Aryan race was supreme and how he would use the Olympics to prove this idea. You will also read about how one man did as much as anybody to dispel those notions.
The 16 Olympics was awarded to Berlin in 11, two years before Adolf Hitler came to power. Obviously, the committee that selected Berlin had no way of knowing what was going to happen. In 1, Hitler came to power and the Nazi movement would soon control the country. Hitler, of course, jumped at the chance to promote the Nazi Party. The Berlin Olympic Games of 16 was a gigantic Nazi showpiece. There were more swastikas bedecking the main stadium than there were Olympic flags. The Nazis spent approximately $0 million, more than all the other Olympics combined. Hitler arranged for Leni Riefenstahl, a German television and movie producer, to make a $7 million film of the event. He ensured that all streets were cleaned and that all signs of the state-run anti-Jewish campaign were removed. By the time the 4 countries arrived, the stage was set.
Of course, it almost did not happen. Many people throughout the world did not feel comfortable attending the Berlin Games. An alternate event, dubbed the Peoples' Olympics, was scheduled for Barcelona, Spain. The plan, however, was dismissed due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July of 16. When it became known that Jews were banned from any German National team, a violation of the Olympic charter, many Americans in the United States demanded a boycott of the games. The Committee on Fair Play in Sports seemed to sum up the general attitude of the nation
...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.
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Avery Brundage, head of the United States Olympic Committee, made a personal visit to see the situation for himself. As I stated earlier, though, Hitler had everything removed that showed any hint that anti-Semitism existed in Germany. Brundage was convinced by German officials that Jews could try out for the German team just like anybody else. Short-lived boycott efforts formed in other countries as well. Great Britain, France, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands were other countries voicing strong objections to the games. Once the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States voted for participation in December of 15 (by a margin of .5 votes), the other countries, however, fell in line. Although no countries boycotted, several Jewish athletes on various national teams from Europe boycotted. Despite the preliminary doubts and the growing tensions that were to culminate in World War II, the Berlin Games attracted 4 countries and 4,066 athletes, more than any other previous Olympics.
On the positive side, there were many great technological achievements that happened during the Berlin Games. Events were televised on a closed-circuit system throughout the Olympic Village and to public halls and theaters around the country. Although it is common to have complete coverage from start to finish in this day and age, this was a novelty in the Summer of 16. Radio had been around for several years but television was just beginning its popularity run. Zeppelins, a rigid airship having a long cylindrical body supported by internal gas cells, carried newsreel film to other European cities. Results were transmitted to other news media by telex, a communications system consisting of teletypewriters connected to a telephonic network to send and receive signals, as soon as events were completed. This allowed people throughout the world to be relatively up-to-date with what was going on in Berlin in 16. A glorious tradition was also started during the Berlin Games. Twelve days before the Olympics began, a torch was lit at Olympia, Greece, the site of the first Olympics in the history of the world. Carried by more than ,000 runners, each person carried it for one kilometer as it passed through Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia. Arriving at Olympic Stadium in Berlin just before the start of the Games where 110,000 spectators awaited anxiously, thirty trumpets blared over loud speakers as Hitler presided over the ceremony. Composer Richard Strauss led an enormous orchestra and chorus that featured Deutschland über alles (Germany over all) and a new Olympic Hymn. Hitler himself reviewed all athletic teams as they marched in. Teams that dipped their colors and saluted Nazi-style were greeted with thunderous roars from the crowd. Those that didn't were met with silence. The moment of truth was at hand.
From the beginning, many athletes and members of the press were alarmed of the nationalistic state that surrounded Germany. The military atmosphere, with the ever-present swastikas and portraits of Hitler, sure did not make it any more comfortable. The martial music that blared through loudspeakers was deeply disturbing to many. Many journalists, suspected of anti-Nazi sentiments, found that their hotel rooms had been looted by the secret police. But not all of the atrocities went detected. Most tourists were unaware of the "clean-up" that went on before the Olympics started. They were also unaware of the 800 Gypsies that were arrested and interned under police guard in a special Gypsy camp in the Berlin suburb of Marzahn. In spite of all this and in Nazi Germany's pro-Aryan setting, it was ironic that the greatest athlete of the Games turned out to be an African-American sprinter.
James Cleveland Owens was born in 11 in Alabama and was the grandson of slaves. Owens was an outstanding athlete throughout his high school career. He later was a member of the Ohio State University track team. At the Big Ten Track and Field Championships of 15, he set or equaled world records in six events the 100 and 0-yard dashes, 00-yard low hurdles, the long jump, 00-meter run and 00-meter hurdles. That is six world records in one afternoon, and he did it all in 45 minutes! The following year, he swept the 100 and 00 meters and long jump at the Olympic Trials and headed for Germany as a favorite to win all three.
Owens run to glory was going as planned. He won the 100 meters and had two Olympic-record-breaking heats in the 00 meters. He would eventually win the 00 with a new Olympic record of 0.7 seconds. Soon after was the 4 x 100 relay race. With Owens running the first leg, the U.S. team ran the 400 yards in .8 seconds, a new world record. Sandwiched between these events was the long jump. Being this was his best event and since he was the world-record holder in this event, few people thought he would have problems. But under the gaze of Hitler, Owens twice illegally crossed the starting line, disqualifying his jumps. After successfully performing this tasks probably thousands of times, he botched it on his first two tests in the biggest event of his life. Owens was standing alongside the jumping pit when another competitor, Luz Long, approached him. This, however, was not just another competitor. Luz Long was from Germany. Tall, blond and blue-eyed, Long personified the pure Aryan that Hitler thought of as the Übermensch, a kind of superman. Fortunately for Owens, Long did not share any of the Führer's racial notions. In Owens, he saw a fellow athlete that needed help. Long suggested that Owens draw an imaginary line a few inches in front of the starting board. Owens qualified easily on his next jump. A friendly competition was just starting between these two competitors. In the finals later that day, Owens reached 5 feet 5 ½ inches and 5 feet 10 inches on his first two jumps. Long tied him at 5 feet 10 inches on his fifth jump. Motivated by his new friend's competitiveness, Owens then cleared 6 feet on his fifth jump and on his final attempt reached 6 feet 5 ½ inches, his final leap and an Olympic record. Ironically, Long's advice to Owens quite possibly might have cost him the gold medal in that event. After the event Owens and Long walked arm-in-arm away from the landing pit. They would never meet again after the Games. They did however write to each other and, after Long was killed in Italy during World War II, Owens continued to write his family. Before he died of lung cancer in 180, Owens wrote
"You can melt down all the medal and cups I have and they wouldn't be plating on the 4-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long."
Jesse Owens won a total of four gold medals during the 16 Olympic Games. Astonishingly, no other athlete would equal that feat until 184 when another U.S. sprinter-jumper, Carl Lewis, won gold medals in the same four events. But the differences between the two put Owens feat on a much higher plateau. In 184, the Soviet Union boycotted the Olympics, by far our closest competitor. Lewis also accomplished his feat in the United States, far away from Nazi Germany and many years after any type of legal discrimination and racism was banned. He did not have to perform under extreme racists conditions or under a ruthless dictator's watch. Owens did not have these comforts. Owens' achievements had consequences far beyond the arena, for they effectively debunked the myth that Aryan superiorityright in front of Hitler. In fact, the 10 African-Americans on the U.S. track team outscored all other national teams, winning 1 medals in all (eight gold, three silver and two bronze).
A common fable from these games is that Hitler refused to congratulate Owens in his remarkable accomplishment. Although part of the story is true, not all of it. It is true that Hitler did not shake the hand of Owens. But, after the first day, he shook nobody's hand. Beaming with extreme national pride, Hitler summoned Hans Woellke, the Games first gold medal winner (a shot-putter) and a German, to his box to offer him personal congratulations. He also congratulated two more athletes, a German and a Finn. Immediately, Olympic protocol officers asked Hitler to receive all winning athletes or none of them. He chose the latter. Although unclear of his intentions, it is quite obvious that he did not want to shake the hands of non-Aryans. Privately, Minister of Propaganda Goebbels called the victories by Blacks a disgrace. Ignoring censors orders to avoid offending foreign guests with racist commentaries, the radical Nazi newspaper Der Angriff (The Attack) wrote on August 6
If the American team had not brought along Black auxiliaries . . . one would have regarded the Yankees as the biggest disappointment of the Games.
Besides Owens, several people shined during the 16 Olympics. German gymnast Konrad Frye was the individual overall medal winner with six (three gold, one silver and two bronze). Dutch swimmer Hendrika Rie Mastenbroek won three gold medals and a silver medal. Alfred Schwarzmann, also a German gymnast, won three gold medals and two bronze medals. The top ten medal standings were as follows
Place Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. Germany 6 0 8
. USA 4 0 1 56
. Italy 8 5
4. Finland 7 6 6 1
France 7 6 6 1
6. Sweden 6 5 0
Hungary 10 1 5 16
8. Japan 6 4 8 18
. Holland 6 4 7 17
10. Great Britain 4 7 14
Germany won the total medal count mainly because of an expanded men's gymnastics program. To no one's surprise, the U.S. men's basketball team won the gold medal. Yet another landmark for the 16 Games, this was the first year that basketball was an Olympic sport. It was not done, however, in a very professional matter. The games were played outdoors, often in the rain. This did not pose a problem for the Americans, though, as it easily defeated almost every opponent. There was really only one concern. Shortly after the games started, the International Basketball Federation put into effect a rule which prohibits all players over six feet three inches tall. The rule would have affected only three players, all Americans, so it was quickly rescinded.
Hitler's Germany emerged as victors in XI Olympiad as they captured the most medals. The preparation and meticulous planning for the Games paid off. Visitors were quite impressed with German hospitality and the magnificent organization of the Games. Most newspaper accounts claimed that the Games put Germany back in the fold of nations and that it made them even more human. But there were a few disbelievers. William Shirer, a foreign correspondent, regarded the Berlin glitter as merely hiding a racist, militaristic regime
Im afraid the Nazis have succeeded with their propaganda. First, the Nazis have run the Games on a lavish scale never before experienced, and this has appealed to the athletes. Second, the Nazis have put up a very good front for the general visitors, especially the big businessmen
In fact, Hitler was so pleased with the Olympics that he planned on building a stadium that would seat over 400,000 people. According to him, all Olympics after the 140 games in Tokyo would be held there. All athletic competition would be confined forever to "pure" Germans. Ironically, the completion date for the stadium was supposed to be in 145. That is the year that the Nazi nightmare would end.
The 16 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany, was a lavish affair. Although anti-Semitism was around, it was well hidden by the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler. More countries and more athletes performed at these Olympics than ever before. Great technological achievements were made and wonderful traditions were started. Hitler used this platform to show the world that the Aryan race was the supreme human race. Overall, his country was victorious but one man single-handedly disproved this notion. Jesse Owens used this platform to show the world that the Aryan race was not the supreme human race. Under the conditions that he was met with in Berlin, Germany, it was an amazing feat. I believe another great hero of the 16 Olympics was Luz Long of Germany. Against everything that his native land was saying, he befriended Owens and helped him in his time of need. I cannot imagine the courage that these young men had, walking arm in arm away from the jumping pit. It is a symbol that should be displayed at every Olympics. This is the true purpose of the Olympics. Black, white, Jewish, Christian…it doesn't matter. What matters is that we are all human beings. Some, though, seem to be a little more human than others.Please note that this sample paper on 1936: The Nazi Olympics is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on 1936: The Nazi Olympics, we are here to assist you. Your persuasive essay on 1936: The Nazi Olympics will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.
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