The 1936 Berlin
Games had been handed to
before the Nazis came to power but now it was the perfect opportunity for Hitler to demonstrate to the
, how efficient the Nazi Germany was. It was also the perfect opportunity for the Nazis to prove to the world the reality of the Master
. The Berlin Olympic Games gave the Nazis an opportunity to show off to the world as 49 countries were competing bringing with them their assorted media. For Propaganda Minister Joseph
, it was the perfect scenario.
The Nazi Germany team had been allowed to train fulltime thus pushing to the limit the idea of
competition. Germany's athletic superstar of the time was Lutz Lang - a brilliant long jumper who easily fitted into the image of blond hair, blue eyed
racial superiority. By far the most famous athlete in the world was Jesse
of America - an African American and therefore, under Nazi ideology,
to the athletes in the German team.
The vast Olympic stadium was completed on time and held 100,000
. 150 other new Olympic buildings were completed on time for the event. The anti-
posters that had littered Germany before the games had disappeared. Signs that stated "
not welcome here" were not longer visible - anything was done to ensure that the Games went smoothly and caused no upset.
In fact, the upset was caused in the stadium itself. The 'racially inferior' Owens won four
medals; in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay. During the Games he broke 11 Olympic records and defeated Lutz Lang in a very close long jump
. The German was the first to
Owens when the long jump final was over. There were 10 African American members of the American athletics team. Between them they won 7 gold medals, 3 silvers and 3 bronze - more than any
team won in track and field at the Games, except America itself.
refused to place the gold medal around Owen's neck.
The one area where the Nazis seemed to excel was in the use of
for the reporters. Twenty transmitting vans were put at the disposal of the foreign media along with 300 microphones. Radio broadcasts at the Olympics were given in 28 different languages. A director of NBC in America congratulated the Nazis for this service - a personal triumph for
Goebbels as he was in charge of this aspect of the Olympics.
(text from
The History Learning Site)