The Games Before the War: Olympics 1936

Wyman Faison

Ms. St. Pierre

English 10 HN

1 June 2012

The Games before the War: Olympics 1936

For two weeks every four years the whole world come together to celebrate its best athletes. In 1936 the Olympics were set to be played in Berlin, Germany. The only problem was that this was during the begging of the mass genocide of the Holocaust and the rise of Adolf Hitler. Before the games, during the games, and even after the games Hitler's main purpose was to show of how great his Aryan culture was.

The Olympics are meant to put all athletes on an equal playing field, and give everyone the same opportunity. With Hitler rapidly beginning his mass genocide of the Jewish race, he had to hide all of his plans to make the world believe all was well. He had begun posting signs stating, "Jews Not Wanted" but that led the other countries to want a boycott (http://greyfalcon.us/The%201936%20Olympics.htm). Hitler believed in the Aryan culture; blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin. When Germany was awarded the games, Hitler was thinking it was a great way to showcase this ability. There was only one problem with Hitler's plan; the rest of the world didn't like it.

With Hitler not letting the Jewish people play in the games on the German team, a lot of other countries wanted to boycott. Countries like the United States, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, and the Netherlands were in favor of the boycott because they felt that going would show that they supported the Nazi government. The United States was one of the most unsure about going, which was a big deal sine the normally sent the biggest Olympic team. There was a big debate which ended with a vote decided by two and a half votes in favor of the States going. Although the nations decided to go many of their Jewish participants decided not to attend from pressure by the Jewish Labor Committee (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005680). While many Jewish athletes didn't go, many still did.

The 1936 Olympics featured a few new parts that are still used today. One of these is the torch run, the carrying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece to where the games are being held. Two other sports made their debut, basketball and field handball. In addition to the new sports, Germany built many nice new complexes. They did this to appeal to all the nations that were planning a boycott. They built a brand new sports complex and all the monuments where covered with Olympic flags and swastikas (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005680). The Olympic Torch was light and the games begun.

A total of 49 teams competed in the 1936 summer Olympics, with Germany filling the biggest team of 348 athletes. The United States had the