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Olympiade 1936:Nazisme in de sport
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- GenresHistory
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 21, 2021
A fascinating read for sports enthusiasts as well as history buffs!
At a time when Olympic competitors were not forced to train from age 3 by parents or state but rather were paperboys, shepherds, movie stars, or students, the world anxiously watched to see how well their athletes would do competing against a nation that boasted of racial superiority. The 1936 Olympics in Germany was indeed a watershed event in more ways than one. From then on athletes would be professionals and politics would be intertwined with the competition itself. No longer would the games be a true brotherhood event but rather one with an agenda. Whether raising the arm in the Nazi salute, Black Panther fist or taking a knee, politics were here to stay.
Like other books in this fine series, a lot of information as well as photographs were jammed into a mere 160 pages. Besides giving excellent background to pertinent events leading up to the 1936 Olympics, enough of the competition was covered to excite those interested. Many world's records were set. There was a lot of FYI crammed in here as well. For instance ...
As could be expected, Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda was hushed up during the Olympics while two Jewish athletes living abroad were even invited home to compete for Germany!
The US easily won in basketball, a fairly new game invented by Americans, in spite of strange rules such as a height limit for players.
I had to laugh in embarrassment when I read of the American team's effort at yachting and learned that they forgot to pull up their anchor!
Soccer was the most quarrelsome sport, on and off the field. The Americans were glad to just quietly suffer through it. When Peru beat Austria 4-2 things got ugly.
Jesse Owens was the hero of the games for the Americans. This mild mannered black college student won three gold medals in Track and Field.
The nightclub singer and film actress Mrs. Eleanor Holm Jarrett, a smoker, claimed to train on champagne and caviar. She was sent home and never got to compete in the women's backstroke which everyone was sure she would win. Two other Americans were sent home as well. Many of the American team members complained about how poorly they were treated. Their German hosts treated them better than their own countrymen. Poor Jesse Owens' arm was so sore at signing autographs, in Germany of all places, that they had to substitute other Negroes in his place because they were being constantly mistaken for him anyway.
'Olympiad 1936' was indeed the blaze of glory for Hitler's Reich. Though it seemed that Germany had indeed won or scored enough to claim Olympic victory, the man most talked about was Jesse Owens for showing up the Nazis.
Also covered was Leni Riefenstahl's brilliant masterpiece of cinema 'Olympia.' It was her baby and I was amazed how she planned the filming. She not only had to fight Goebbels for control of the production but spent a year and a half editing the footage herself. It may have been pretty much a man's world back then, especially in Germany, but talented ladies like herself and test pilot Hanna Reitsch deserve recognition. Although 'Olympia' was touted as a piece of Nazi propaganda, she fairly covered America's black athletes.
The 1940 Olympic games were to be held in Japan, but as we now know it was not to be.
At a time when Olympic competitors were not forced to train from age 3 by parents or state but rather were paperboys, shepherds, movie stars, or students, the world anxiously watched to see how well their athletes would do competing against a nation that boasted of racial superiority. The 1936 Olympics in Germany was indeed a watershed event in more ways than one. From then on athletes would be professionals and politics would be intertwined with the competition itself. No longer would the games be a true brotherhood event but rather one with an agenda. Whether raising the arm in the Nazi salute, Black Panther fist or taking a knee, politics were here to stay.
Like other books in this fine series, a lot of information as well as photographs were jammed into a mere 160 pages. Besides giving excellent background to pertinent events leading up to the 1936 Olympics, enough of the competition was covered to excite those interested. Many world's records were set. There was a lot of FYI crammed in here as well. For instance ...
As could be expected, Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda was hushed up during the Olympics while two Jewish athletes living abroad were even invited home to compete for Germany!
The US easily won in basketball, a fairly new game invented by Americans, in spite of strange rules such as a height limit for players.
I had to laugh in embarrassment when I read of the American team's effort at yachting and learned that they forgot to pull up their anchor!
Soccer was the most quarrelsome sport, on and off the field. The Americans were glad to just quietly suffer through it. When Peru beat Austria 4-2 things got ugly.
Jesse Owens was the hero of the games for the Americans. This mild mannered black college student won three gold medals in Track and Field.
The nightclub singer and film actress Mrs. Eleanor Holm Jarrett, a smoker, claimed to train on champagne and caviar. She was sent home and never got to compete in the women's backstroke which everyone was sure she would win. Two other Americans were sent home as well. Many of the American team members complained about how poorly they were treated. Their German hosts treated them better than their own countrymen. Poor Jesse Owens' arm was so sore at signing autographs, in Germany of all places, that they had to substitute other Negroes in his place because they were being constantly mistaken for him anyway.
'Olympiad 1936' was indeed the blaze of glory for Hitler's Reich. Though it seemed that Germany had indeed won or scored enough to claim Olympic victory, the man most talked about was Jesse Owens for showing up the Nazis.
Also covered was Leni Riefenstahl's brilliant masterpiece of cinema 'Olympia.' It was her baby and I was amazed how she planned the filming. She not only had to fight Goebbels for control of the production but spent a year and a half editing the footage herself. It may have been pretty much a man's world back then, especially in Germany, but talented ladies like herself and test pilot Hanna Reitsch deserve recognition. Although 'Olympia' was touted as a piece of Nazi propaganda, she fairly covered America's black athletes.
The 1940 Olympic games were to be held in Japan, but as we now know it was not to be.
May 1, 2008
One of the most interesting chapters of the Second World War was the Winter and Summer Olympics in Germany that preceded the War (1936). Since Germany hosted the Olympics and Adolf Hitler just got in as leader there was a major cover up of anti-Semitic activity as well as the detention of champion Jewish athletes. There’s also great detail spent on the effort to beat Negro champion Jesse Owens and the punishment Aryan athletes suffered from losing to him.
March 30, 2019
An interesting piece of history, setting some of the context as Hitler headed towards starting the Second World War. I found the first few chapters especially relevant to what we are seeing more and more these days, ie. carefully staged manipulation of message and media by charismatic leaders and their cronies, leading directly to large scale public acceptance of concepts and actions that would have previously been unthinkable. Propaganda on steroids - not a pleasant thought, at all.
This was the first Olympics where politics played a major role, and this book provides great insights into the mix of politics, (especially the German whitewashing of their treatment of Jews), and lots of detail of the sporting side of the Olympics, which would be equally fascinating to a political historian or a sports history buff!
However, amidst all the sport trivia, I was very surprised to read that Great Britain won the Gold Medal in ice hockey, over the USA and Canada. What a shocker that must have been in 1936!
This was the first Olympics where politics played a major role, and this book provides great insights into the mix of politics, (especially the German whitewashing of their treatment of Jews), and lots of detail of the sporting side of the Olympics, which would be equally fascinating to a political historian or a sports history buff!
However, amidst all the sport trivia, I was very surprised to read that Great Britain won the Gold Medal in ice hockey, over the USA and Canada. What a shocker that must have been in 1936!
September 19, 2025
Adolf Hitler first staged a country, and then an olympiad to celebrate that country in 1936. After you've watched the four hours of Leni Riefentahl's film, OLYMPIAD, turn to this book, illustrating both the athletic and political aspects, not that the two could be separated then or now, of how "Hitler's Olympics" showcased the iron dream of Aryan supremacy while carefully hiding all traces of non-Nazi life in Germany. Berlin Jews were herded out of the city, and signs proclaiming their expulsion from German life strictly banned, for the duration of the olympic games only. A fascinating chapter deals with the "counter-olympics" held in Barcelona, Spain featuring anti-fascist athletes from all over the world. Spain, Germany and the rest of the world played games on the edge of a volcano.
March 12, 2021
A lot about the actual sporting events, but surprising little on the politics surrounding the spectacle. This was a bit surprising considering the subtitle of the book.
January 13, 2018
Com uma incrível pesquisa histórica sobre os meses e dias que antecederam os chamados "Jogos de Hitler", a autora revela como o mundo político e esportivo entraram em choque com os Jogos Olímpicos de Berlim, em 1936. Todos sabiam que os judeus vinham sendo perseguidos pelo governo nazista, mas a velha (e errônea) orientação do Comitê Olímpico Internacional de não misturar esporte com política infelizmente prevaleceu, porém tal diretriz foi constantemente atacada por atletas e governos de diversos países. Várias ameaças de boicotes foram feitas, e até a realização de Olimpíadas Populares em Barcelona foi ensaiada, mas o estouro da Guerra Civil Espanhola acabou com os sonhos de uma geração. Onde os alemães podiam se sair bem, como a construção dos locais esportivos, organização do evento e tratamento dos turistas estrangeiros, o III Reich levou medalha de ouro. Entretanto, onde a conquista da medalha dependia da pressuposta superioridade da raça ariana, o negro Jesse Owens e outros atletas estadunidenses destruíram tal mito nazista, fazendo o Führer abandonar o estádio diversas vezes. Quatro anos depois, o mundo ficaria sem os Jogos Olímpicos, pois estava ocupado demais lutando contra os antigos anfitriões alemães de 36.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews