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For two weeks in August 1936, Adolf Hitler's Nazi dictatorship camouflaged its racist, militaristic character while hosting the Summer Olympics. Softpedaling its antisemitic agenda and plans for territorial expansion, the regime exploited the Games to bedazzle many foreign spectators and journalists with an image of a peaceful, tolerant Germany.
But 80 years ago, when the Summer Olympics opened on Aug. 1, 1936, in Berlin, that creed nearly crumbled.
From left, Japan's Naoto Tajima (bronze), American Jesse Owens (gold) who set an Olympic record in the event and Germany's Luz Long (silver) giving a Nazi salute, August 8, 1936. From almost the...
Hitler saw the 1936 Games as an opportunity to promote his government and ideals of racial supremacy and antisemitism, and the official Nazi Party paper, the Völkischer Beobachter, wrote in the strongest terms that Jews should not be allowed to participate in the Games.
The Berlin Games are best remembered for Adolf Hitler’s failed attempt to use them to prove his theories of Aryan racial superiority. As it turned out, the most popular hero of the Games was the African-American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump.
Berlin 1936 Olympic Games, athletic festival held in Berlin that took place August 1–16, 1936. The Berlin Games were the 10th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games. The event was held in a tense, politically charged atmosphere, occurring just two years after Adolf Hitler became Führer.
Hitler placed the full resources of the state behind the Olympic preparations. Goebbels and the Nazi regime covered up their violent, racist policies throughout the Games by removing anti-Semitic signs and toning back rhetoric of newspapers.
