Hitler's Persecution Of Jews At The Olympics Of 1936

The Olympic games of 1936 served as a starting point for the Nazi’s persecution of Jews. Many people contributed to the Nazi’s racist scheme. However, many people were hurt because of the Olympics. Furthermore, The games were held in Germany and were used to support Nazi propaganda.

Many people contributed to the boycott of the 1936 Olympics. Most infamously, Adolf Hitler. Hitler had unsuccessfully attempted to ban Jews from competing in the Olympics. Controversially, a week before the Olympic games, Hitler banned anything anti-Semetic, to create a false impression. Jesse Owens, an American Olympian, became world-renowned for proving Hitler’s racist theories wrong. For example, During the Olympics, he tied the world record of 10.3 seconds

For example, Hitler thought this would be a great way to showcase his “Third Empire” to all competing 49 nations. To furthermore his propaganda, Hitler wanted Germany to be seen as an almighty country with great power. As well as this, Hitler attempted to ban Jews from the games, which started much controversy throughout the games. Before the beginning of the games, Hitler had already begun persecuting Jews and other religions. However, a week before the games, in an attempt to conceal his persecution, Hitler banned all anti-semitism. Leading into the games, after Hitler had unsuccessfully banned Jews from competing, Germany had the most prominent team with 342 athletes. To protest the Germans boycott, America switched a few American athletes out for African-American athletes. Ironically, an African-American, Jesse Owens, set multiple records and won many gold medals. The second reason why the Olympics of 1936 are essential is that it was the most immense Olympic Games in history. Forty-nine nations had come together to compete in the games, the largest being Germany, with 348 members, and the second largest being the United States, with 312 members. However, the Soviet Union was not one of the teams competing in the Olympics because they regarded it as an essential battle in the Cold War. As well as the games featuring more competitors, the games advanced in technology. “It was the first Olympic competition to use telex transmissions of results, and zeppelins were used to quickly transport newsreel footage to other European cities” (Berlin 1936 Olympic Games). As well as this, the games were also televised for the first time. It also featured a new event, the torch relay. In this event, the Olympic flame is moved to Greece. The third reason why the games were so important is that the Nazi’s racist ideology was proven wrong. The Nazi’s racist ideology had