Fat burning

History of Olympic Games. How the Olympics were held in the Third Reich Olympic Games in Munich 1936

A distinctive feature of many totalitarian regimes is an increased emphasis on polish and ceremony. Particular importance was attached to ceremonies and holidays in Nazi Germany. Among all the ceremonial Nazi events, perhaps the most magnificent and spectacular was the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The 1936 Berlin Olympics are probably the most controversial in the history of the Games. After World War I, in 1920 and 1924, Germany was not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games. However, this unfortunate fact did not bother Hitler much - he was convinced that competing with “inferior non-Aryans” would be simply humiliating for German athletes. Bruno Matlitz, a spokesman for the Nazi Party, reiterated this position in a letter to members of German sports clubs, defining the Olympic Games as "overrun by French, Belgians, Poles and Negro Jews."

Goebbels made every effort to convince the Fuhrer to reconsider his attitude towards the Olympic Games. He argued that hosting the Olympics would demonstrate Germany's renewed strength to the world community and provide the party with first-class propaganda material. In addition, the competition will allow the undoubtedly strong German team to demonstrate “Aryan” athleticism to other nations. The Fuhrer was persuaded. The Fuhrer agreed. 20 million Reichsmarks were allocated for the Games, i.e. 8 million US dollars.

However, in 1934, serious debate broke out in the world over the advisability of holding the Games in Berlin. They were especially violent in the USA. Jewish, Catholic, religious and secular organizations were united in their condemnation of the German Games. As IOC President Avery Brundage said in 1933:

“The very foundation of the modern revived Olympic movement would be undermined if individual countries were allowed to restrict participation in the Games on grounds of origin, faith or race.”

Emblem of the Berlin Olympics.

To guests who visited Berlin in 1936, it seemed that German anti-Semitism was simply a myth. All anti-Jewish posters, brochures and books temporarily disappeared from the streets and shelves. German newspapers were prohibited from publishing anti-Semitic stories and articles for the entire period of the Games. Berlin residents were even ordered to refrain from making negative public statements about Jews from June 30 to September 1. To create the impression of the liberalism of the Third Reich, even one half-Jewish woman (quite incidentally of “Aryan” appearance) - fencing champion Helena Mayer - was allowed to participate in the Games as part of the German team.

The leadership and residents of Berlin showed generous hospitality towards the visiting athletes and guests. In particular, the consumption of eggs for Berliners was temporarily reduced so that guests could eat without restrictions. Laws against homosexuals were temporarily suspended. The entire city was lavishly decorated with swastikas and other Nazi symbols, which gave it a festive and majestic appearance. Military mobilization was also hidden from prying eyes. Here is the instruction from the Ministry of Propaganda, which talks about the Olympic Village:

“The northern section of the Olympic Village, originally used by the Wehrmacht, should not be called barracks, but will now be called the “northern section of the Olympic Village”

The world press was delighted. Only two or three of the most astute reporters were able to look behind the beautiful facade - but even they did not see the full picture. In the northern suburbs of Berlin, the Oranienburg concentration camp was already filling with Jews and other undesirables.
The opening ceremony of the Games was well remembered by everyone who saw it. Guns were firing all over the city. Hitler personally released 20 thousand carrier pigeons at the Shportpalast stadium. The nearly 304-meter-long Hindenburg zeppelin circled the stadium with a giant Olympic flag in tow. In the middle of all this splendor, athletes from 49 countries of the world walked in front of the gathered crowds of spectators.

In general, the results of the XI Olympics in Berlin were positive for the Reich. Huge financial investments in physical training and sports yielded results: the German team received 33 gold medals, leaving all other teams far behind. The Nazis believed that the racial “superiority” of the Aryans had been further confirmed.
However, although many Nazi prejudices seemed to be confirmed, some of them came into clear conflict with reality. Half-Jewish fencer Helena Mayer took second place, and Jewish athletes from other countries won gold and silver medals. In such a paramilitary sport as fencing, the primacy of the Jews was very unpleasant for the Nazi leaders. But Mayer's invaluable contribution to Nazi propaganda more than compensated for this trouble. Standing on the podium, she gave the Nazi salute in full uniform, and at a reception in honor of the Olympic medalists, she shook hands with Hitler. She was captured in her documentary “Olympia” by Leni Riefenstahl.
In general, the awards were distributed as follows.

No. Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Third Reich 33 26 30 89
2 USA 24 20 12 56
3 Hungary 10 1 5 16
4 Italy 8 9 5 22
5 Finland 7 6 6 19
6 France 7 6 6 19
7 Sweden 6 5 9 20
8 Japan 6 4 8 18
9 Netherlands 6 4 7 17

Olympic awards.

Discussion of the project.

This is what Berlin looked like in the year of the Games.

Erwin Kazmir, one of the best fencers in Germany.

Eleven cities on three continents applied for the organization of the Games of the XI Olympiad in 1936: nine European, four of them from one country - Germany: Berlin, Cologne, Nuremberg and Frankfurt am Main; the capital of Hungary is Budapest, the capital of Italy is Rome, the capital of Ireland is Dublin and two cities from other parts of the world: Egyptian - Alexandria and Argentinean - Buenos Aires. For the first time, so many cities competed for the honor of organizing the Olympics.

Berlin won this competition, and this decision was made in 1932, that is, a year before the Nazis came to power in Germany. But intensive preparations for the Games began under the Nazi regime. Holding the Olympics in Berlin gave the fascists a trump card that they could not help but use. Trying their best, Nazi propagandists from the department of Dr. Goebbels spread rumors about the peacefulness of the fascist state, and this is where the world youth festival, according to their plan, was supposed to help them a lot.

In one of the comments to the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, Hitler’s newspaper Völkischer Beobachter wrote:
“Negroes have nothing to do at the Olympics... Today, unfortunately, there are often cases when a free person is forced to challenge the palm of a forced black, a Negro. This is an unprecedented insult and dishonor to the Olympic idea, and the ancient Greeks would have rolled over in their graves if learned what modern people have made of their sacred national Games... The next Olympic Games will be held in 1936 in Berlin. We hope that those in responsible positions know what their duty is. Blacks must be excommunicated. We are waiting for it ".

Four years later, there was no talk of anything like that. Hitler decided to use the Games as a beautiful curtain behind which he could freely prepare for the implementation of his aggressive plans. “We will show them all the world that we have found”, - Goebbels wrote in the Olympia Zeitung on August 1, on the eve of the opening of the Games.

Even before the start of the Games, it became obvious in what atmosphere they would be held. German fascism decided to prove in practice to the whole world the correctness of its racial theories. The Olympics were supposed to be a triumph for blond “supermans.” They were the ones who were supposed to be the most capable, strong, fast, and dexterous. To achieve this, all means were used, and every foreign participant in the Games, according to the plans of the owners, had to undergo such “processing” that would plunge him into a state of moral depression.

In order to eclipse all previous Games in terms of the scope of the competition and the number of participants, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Propaganda were placed at the service of the Olympics. To attract foreign tourists, a whole army of special emissaries was sent abroad. The convening of various international congresses and meetings in Berlin coincided with the Olympic Games.

The intensive training program also included a whole series of police measures carried out in Germany in order to hide from foreigners the ongoing policy of crushing democratic organizations, repression, and strangling democratic freedoms. The German Ministry of the Interior and the Chief of Police of Berlin issued many secret orders and regulations, which ordered, for example, the removal of all anti-Semitic slogans from June 1 to September 15, and the use of prisoners for work carried out near public roads was prohibited...

It became increasingly clear that the Nazi bosses were taking measures to turn the Olympics into a pro-fascist demonstration. The American magazine Christian Century wrote at the time that "The Nazis use the fact of the Olympics for propaganda purposes to convince the German people of the power of fascism, and foreigners of its virtues".

On the eve of the XI Olympic Games, a wave of angry protests against the holding of the Olympics in Nazi Germany swept across the world. In June 1936, a conference in defense of the Olympic ideas was held in Paris, in which representatives of many countries took part. The conference recognized the holding of the Games of the XI Olympiad in a fascist country as incompatible with the principles of the Olympic Games and appealed to “all people of good will and friends of Olympic ideas with an appeal to boycott the Hitler Olympics.”

The Paris Conference called for organizing the People's Olympics in Barcelona instead of the Berlin Olympics. In New York, a Council was formed to fight for the transfer of the Olympics from Berlin. The IOC sent its commission to Berlin, but the commission members did not see anything in the capital of Nazi Germany “that could harm the Olympic movement.” Thus, despite the powerful protest movement, the IOC did not reverse the decision to hold the Games in Berlin. The holding of the People's Olympics in Barcelona was prevented by the fascist rebellion that began in Spain.

By the way, when the guest of honor who arrived at the Games - the winner of the marathon competitions of the 1st Olympics - was welcomed in the Olympic village in Berlin Spiridon Louis, a secret meeting took place in the immediate vicinity of the Olympic village, about which three years later the Nazi writer Werner Beumelburg wrote in his book “The Struggle for Spain - the History of the Condor Legion”: “A decision was made to create the Union Society, which soon began to take shape under the leadership of Major Alexander von Scheele. On July 31, 1936, the Secretary of State for Aviation, General Milch, approved the composition of the mentioned society and announced that, by order of the Fuhrer, Spain would receive assistance from Germany. .. Alexander von Scheele, who has extensive experience in participating in wars on foreign territories, placed his team on the steamship Usaramo, loaded to the brim with weapons. On the night of August 1, Usaramo went to sea.".

Meanwhile, in Berlin, Hitler announced the opening of the XI Olympic Games, which were supposed to hide Germany’s preparations for war from the whole world. The fascist Pharisees called the Olympic village "the village of peace." Almost all the heads of the services of this “peace village” soon occupied prominent positions in Hitler’s army.

During the Games, Berlin was hung with flags with swastikas, which were found on its streets and squares much more often than the five Olympic rings. The brown uniform of the Nazis overshadowed the multi-colored tracksuits of the Olympic participants. And few of the athletes knew everything that the Nazis did in Berlin. The winner of the 1924 Olympic silver medal in the 800-meter race, Swiss Paul Martin, was excluded from the list of participants: the Nazis in the Olympic village “discovered” that he was the fiancé of a Jewish woman. Police sleuths were looking for “purebred” Aryans among American, Dutch, Swedish and, of course, German athletes. At the same time, without hesitation, they argued that the purpose of the search was to create a new generation of “Olympic children”, for which they needed to organize married couples from the found “Aryans” and representatives of the “Union of German Girls”. This was the only way, in their opinion, to increase the number of fair-haired and blue-eyed, and therefore perfect, people.

The XI Olympic Games brought together 4,066 athletes from 49 countries. Afghanistan, Bermuda, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Liechtenstein, and Peru were represented for the first time. The hosts fielded the largest team - 406 people. They participated in all types of the program and decided to take first place in the unofficial team competition at any cost. The Games program included sports that are widespread in Germany: handball, kayaking and canoeing, and women's gymnastics competitions were resumed. An art competition was also organized, in which the majority of gold medals (5 out of 9) were awarded to German participants. All this allowed the German team to take overall first place in the number of medals won.

Despite the success of the German team. The Olympic Games completely overthrew the delusional Nazi racial theories. After all, the Berlin Olympics, according to the Nazis, was supposed to be a demonstration of the overwhelming superiority of athletes of Aryan origin. These plans failed miserably. On the USA track and field team, ten blacks placed six first, three second and two third. The famous black athlete, the great sprinter of all time, was recognized as the best athlete of the Games, and the XI Olympic Games are called the “Jesse Owens Olympics”; the capital of Aryan racist ideology was forced to give the laurels of the best athlete in the world to a black athlete.

Legends began to form about Jesse Owens even in those years when he participated in competitions. These legends are still alive. Because, perhaps, there was no one in the history of athletics who could compare with him. At the Berlin Olympics, he won four gold medals, and this is considered the pinnacle of his sports career. But can four gold medals outshine what many consider to be the most remarkable day in the history of athletics - May 25, 1935? Speaking at competitions in Ann Arbor (Michigan), Owens set five world records and repeated another record. Events unfolded like this: 15 hours 15 minutes - Owens repeats the world's highest achievement in the 100-yard dash - 9.4 seconds; 15 hours 25 minutes - in his first and only attempt at the long jump competition, he flies 8 m 13 cm; 15 hours 45 minutes - 20.3 seconds. at a distance of 220 yards in a straight line, and during the race Owens also recorded a record for 200 m; 16 hours - 22.6 sec. at 220 yards with hurdles, plus, again, he also has a record at a two-hundred-meter distance. And all this in 45 minutes!

The world has never seen anything like it! With his sprint achievements, Owens would have been a medalist at the 1964 Olympics, and his long jump record stood for twenty-five years. And it is not surprising that he was given a lot of space in the recently created “Athletics Hall of Fame” in the United States and that he was named “the greatest” during a survey of American sports journalists. When James Cleveland Owens, the tenth child, was born into a large black family in Cleveland, Alabama, nothing seemed to foretell that he would become a great athlete.

In early childhood, the boy did not stand out in anything, except, perhaps, for his impeccable muscles and amazing self-control. At the age of fourteen, he ran 220 yards in 22.9 seconds at school, completely ignorant of track and field techniques. This was an amazing result for a beginner, and coach Charles Riley even decided that his stopwatch was broken. When James was fifteen years old, he jumped 185 centimeters in height and 680 centimeters in length.

But his sporting interests were not limited to athletics. He played football and baseball well and was captain of the school basketball team. As a child, he was called JC - after the first letters of his name. Over the years, G.C. turned into Jesse - that's how he became Jesse Owens. When successes came in sports, offers began to come from various universities: everyone wanted to get a talented athlete. In the fall of 1933, Owens entered Ohio State University.

Owens arrived in Berlin already in a halo of glory and, naturally, aroused special interest. From the very first days, he not only enjoyed the close attention of those around him, but also won sympathy for his gentleness, tact, and modesty. Owens always performed playfully, impressing everyone with his ease and exceptional jumping ability. His running style was unusual: a very fast start, then he seemed to slow down in order to rush even faster. He seemed to have a gear shift and it felt like he was never running at full speed.

He competed in the 100-meter race in Berlin four times and was always first. Preliminary races were held on Sunday. Jesse repeated the world record of 10.3 seconds. In the quarterfinals, he ran the 100m dash in 10.2 seconds with a tailwind.

The final took place on Monday. Here he is at the start. Motionless, concentrated, with an absent gaze, as if indifferent to what surrounds him. The starter fires and “black lightning” bursts from the group of runners. Twenty meters from the start line, Owens reigned supreme on the track. There was no fight: Owens was racing alone towards the gold medal. The others were far behind. When, smiling, he steps down from the podium, all eyes turn to Hitler's box. But Owens didn't show up. The Fuhrer did not want to greet, in the same way as he had greeted the German athletes the day before, a foreigner, and a non-white one at that, even a world record holder. Prelims in the 200-meter dash and long jump are on Tuesday morning. Owens casually breaks two Olympic records.

In the evening, Hitler is again on the podium. He hopes to see the handsome blond German athlete Lutz Long on the top step of the podium, whose battle with Owens in the long jump was very stubborn. The outcome of the struggle remained unclear for a long time. In the last, fifth attempt, Long makes a magnificent jump - 7 meters 87 centimeters. The Olympic record set by Owens this morning was broken by 4 centimeters. To the roar of wild applause, Long stands tall and raises his hand in a Nazi salute to his Fuhrer. As the noise fades, all eyes turn to Jesse Owens as he prepares to jump. Motionless, leaning slightly forward, with his hands on his knees, he concentrates in complete silence for long seconds. Then he rushes forward like an arrow, soars over the control board, barely touching it, and flies, yes, flies, it seems as if he is gliding in the air. The result is fantastic - 8 meters 6 centimeters! New Olympic record! The thunder of applause shakes the stadium.

Wednesday is the final of the 200m race. No one doubted Jesse Owens' victory. And before the start he goes to shake hands with his opponents and wish them happiness in a good way. Once again, the audience sees this cat-like leap, a rapid forward rush, after which it seems that his opponents are standing still. The result is 20.7 seconds. New Olympic record.

And on Sunday, in the 4 x 100 meter relay final, Jesse earned his fourth gold medal, setting a new world record with his teammates of 39.8 seconds, which would not be broken until twenty years later.

Before the Berlin Olympics, the Nazis never tired of repeating the superiority of the Aryan race. Owens' success clearly proved the falsity of these nonsense. That is why the enraged Fuhrer left the stadium when he saw that the black athlete had won his fourth gold medal - more than all the "Aryan" athletes combined.

Jesse Owens left Berlin, taking with him, in addition to four medals and a huge moral victory, four oak seedlings: each winner received an oak seedling. Now these mighty, handsome oak trees, more than nine meters high, grow in Cleveland, in the garden of Owens’s parents, in two Cleveland schools where Jesse studied, and the latter adorns the alley of the university in Ohio, where Owens completed his education. These oak trees are a constant reminder of the unfading glory of the great Negro athlete.

Fifteen years after his triumph, Jesse returned to Berlin. He accompanied the then famous Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. When the hero of the Berlin Olympics entered the Sports Palace, everyone stood up to greet him.

Owens visited the family of the deceased Lutz Long and had a long conversation with his son. And on the anniversary of his Olympic victories, he performed at the same stadium where he gained fame in 1936. This time he acted as a peace activist. He spoke about peace and on behalf of athletes of all colors, all nations, demanded peace. “At these moments,” said Owens, “I remember first of all my great opponent in the Olympic wrestling, my good comrade Lutz Long, whom a senseless war tore from our ranks. And, remembering him, knowing his fate, I call on all fathers and mothers: in this long-suffering world they are talking about war again. God gave us life to create value in the world. I urge all parents to think about their most precious thing - their children, so that they never fall victims of war. Peace to all of you, your boys and girls.

Czechoslovak canoeists made an excellent debut at the Olympic Games. The winners of the two-man canoe race at a distance of 1000 meters were: Vladimir Syrovatka And Jan Brzak, and at a distance of 10,000 meters - Vaclav Mottl and Zdenek Skrdlant.

The Americans won both the men's and women's diving events. They won five out of six medals each, losing only one bronze medal in platform diving. 13-year-old wins women's ski jumping Majori Gestring. She became the youngest Olympic champion.

Swedish wrestler Ivar Johansson- winner of the 1932 Olympics in two types of wrestling - won the championship in classical style in Berlin. Estonian heavyweight wins two gold medals Christian Palusalu, he won the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament and the freestyle wrestling tournament.

Hungarian water polo player Oliver Hallassy won his third medal despite having one leg amputated below the knee after a car accident.

Representatives from 5 countries set world records in five weight categories of the weightlifting tournament. The most impressive performance was from the Egyptian X. at-Tuni. In the all-around total, he was not only 35 kg ahead of his closest rival, but also showed a result 15 kg higher than the winner in the next weight category.

The Frenchman won three gold medals in cycling R. Charpentier- for the road race in the individual and team championships, as well as for winning the team pursuit race at a distance of 4000 m.

In fencing, the medals were shared between the teams of Hungary and Italy. The Italians won both individual and team competitions in foil and epee fencers, and the Hungarian team and its representative Andrew Kabos became champions in saber fencing.

An Italian athlete became the hero of the fencing tournament G. Gaudini, who received two gold medals for victories in individual and team foil competitions and became a silver medalist as part of the saber team. This athlete successfully competed at the Olympics in 1928 - gold and bronze medals, and in 1932 - three silver and bronze medals; in the period from 1929 to 1938 he became the world champion in foil fencing 10 times, of which twice in personal championship.

A remarkable Hungarian athlete won the women's tournament Ilona Elek. For twenty years she was considered one of the strongest rapier players in the world. She arrived in Berlin as a five-time European champion. This was her first Olympics and first medal. Elek participated in two more Olympic Games: in 1948 she again became champion (with a break of 12 years!), and in 1952 she won a silver medal. Ilona Elek won the world championships six times. The famous fencer has long been retired; in 1977, many world fencing stars came to her in Budapest to congratulate her on her seventieth birthday.

The English rower set a record by winning his fifth Olympic medal. After winning gold medals in the single boat in 1924 and four in 1932, silver in the single in 1920 and eight in 1928, he added another gold medal in the double.

For the first time, the Olympic Games were broadcast on television. Twenty-five large screens were installed in various places in Berlin, and people could freely watch the Olympic Games.

Despite high athletic results and widespread participation of athletes, the XI Olympic Games were held in an oppressive atmosphere of militarism. This fact is also recognized by the IOC. Its newsletter commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Olympic Movement states:

"A strong spirit of militarism and Nazism dominated these Games".
Three years later, the world war unleashed by Hitler Germany began, destroying the flower of the youth of many countries.

The political content of the 1936 Games set a precedent for the Cold War Olympic Games, which largely served to achieve the same goal: the political differences between East and West turned the Games of a number of Olympics from 1952 to 1988 into a kind of platform for demonstrating the superiority of "their" ones. system and political ambitions.

The other day, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson compared the upcoming World Cup in Russia with the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany. Despite the minister’s less than diplomatic behavior, his statement is a good reason to remember the games that took place just three years before the start of World War II.

Games are needed

Germany applied to host the 36 Olympics in the late 1920s. In addition to Berlin, nine more cities claimed victory. Among them was Barcelona, with whom the German capital competed in the final. Finally, in 1931, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced its verdict - the Games would be held in Berlin.

Two years later, the Nazis came to power. They immediately raise the question of the feasibility of holding competitions. Adolf Hitler considered the Olympics a “Jewish invention.” German athletes, he declared, should not compete together with representatives of “inferior peoples.” In addition, at the previous Games in Los Angeles, Germany took only ninth place in the team event, and if this is so, then there is no point in holding the Olympics, the Fuhrer believed.

Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels managed to convince Hitler. He proposed using the competition to improve the image of Nazi Germany abroad. In addition, he believed that the Games would help develop sports, which, in turn, would have a positive effect on the health and fitness of soldiers. The war-oriented Führer found Goebbels' ideas tempting.

Hitler took the preparations for the Games under his personal control and ordered the allocation of more than 20 million Reichsmarks for these purposes. Construction began on an Olympic stadium with 86 thousand seats, a swimming pool, an open arena, a village for athletes of 500 houses and other facilities.

Games with a Nazi flavor

But the Third Reich did not miss the opportunity to show its true essence here either. Soon the IOC began to receive complaints about the persecution of Jews in Germany. They were expelled from sports clubs and expelled from athletic associations. In addition, in 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were adopted, limiting the rights of “inferior races.” The IOC threatened Berlin with deprivation of its status as an Olympic capital, and a movement to boycott the Games developed in Europe and the United States.

To understand the situation, the International Olympic Committee sent a delegation to Germany. The Nazis carefully prepared: they showed the guests the facilities under construction, the city infrastructure, in addition, they removed all anti-Semitic propaganda from the streets and even organized a meeting for the visitors with Jewish athletes. The task was simple: to show that there is no oppression in Germany. The delegation returned from Berlin impressed.

On a grand scale

The Olympics took place from August 1 to 16. More than four thousand athletes from 49 countries gathered in Berlin, licked to a shine. About four million fans came to support the athletes.

A couple of months before the start of the competition, beggars, gypsies and women of easy virtue were evicted from the city. In addition, Goebbels strictly prohibited the publication of anti-Semitic articles in newspapers and magazines, and posters with similar content were removed from the streets.

Guests of the competition were treated to an amazing novelty: for the first time in history, there was a live broadcast of the Games. For this purpose, 33 television showrooms were organized, in which there were two televisions that transmitted images in real time. During the Olympics, more than 150 thousand people visited them; the queues there were no less than those at the stadiums.

By the way, some athletes still joined the boycott. But most went, not wanting to miss the chance that comes once every four years.

There were no Soviet athletes at the Olympics. Relations between the USSR and Germany were then extremely tense: there was a civil war in Spain, in which they were on opposite sides of the barricades.

The main myth of that Olympics was the story surrounding the black American athlete Jesse Owens. It is believed that he allegedly angered Hitler by taking four gold medals, so the Fuhrer refused to shake his hand like other winners.

However, everything was somewhat different. Hitler really didn’t want to shake hands with the “non-Aryans,” so even before Owens’s start, he stopped inviting every victor to his box.

On the first day of the competition, the German athlete Hans Welke became the Olympic champion in shot put. The Germans rejoiced. In March 1943, partisans in Belarus fired at a Verkhmat convoy. An officer died - the same Hans Welke.

The Nazis carried out a bloody act of retaliation. The nearby village of Khatyn, in which the Germans believed the partisans were hiding, was destroyed and its inhabitants burned alive.

Who has won?

Germany confidently won the team event, taking 33 gold, 26 silver and 30 bronze medals - a total of 89 medals. The United States is in second place with 24 gold, 20 silver and 12 bronze medals, for a total of 56 awards. The Hungarians closed the top three with 10 medals of the highest standard. Goebbels stated that the results of the Games were clear proof of the superiority of the Aryan race.

The Fuhrer himself was delighted with the Olympics, so much so that he intended to hold all the Games in Germany. The Germans applied for the winter competition, which was to take place in early 1940. IOC officials hesitated, but Berlin itself soon withdrew the application. And then no one was thinking about the Summer Olympics - the war was raging in Europe.

Among all the ceremonial Nazi events, perhaps the most magnificent and spectacular was the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The historic Berlin stadium today is perceived by many not so much as an arena of sports battles, but as a monumental reminder of the Nazi era. It was here, at the Olympiastadion, that Hitler held a grandiose propaganda campaign and, to the pompous music of Richard Wagner, opened the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in front of a crowd of 100,000. It was here, to the chagrin of the Fuhrer, that the black American athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals, thereby questioning the myth of the superiority of the Aryan race. It was here that two years later the British met the German football team, and during the playing of the German anthem they had to submit to political demands and salute the Fuhrer. But the English avenged this humiliation by winning 6:3.

The Olympiapark sports complex, the center of which is now the Olympiastadion stadium, was built before the First World War, when Germany received the right to host the 1916 Summer Olympics. In 1933, Hitler, having come to power, took over the unused areas , adjacent to the Grunwald racetrack. His grand plan included the construction of an 86,000-seat stadium, a separate hockey stadium, a riding arena, a swimming pool and an outdoor sports arena. The sports complex was adjacent to Maifeld, where the Nazis held mass rallies.

The 1936 Berlin Olympics are probably the most controversial in the history of the Games. After World War I, in 1920 and 1924, Germany was not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games. However, this unfortunate fact did not bother Hitler much - he was convinced that competing with “inferior non-Aryans” would be simply humiliating for German athletes. Bruno Matrix, a spokesman for the Nazi Party, reiterated this position in a letter to members of German sports clubs, defining the Olympic Games as "overrun by French, Belgian, Poles and Negro Jews."

Despite such beliefs of the Nazis, on May 13, 1931, the International Olympic Committee granted Germany the right to host the 1936 Games. This step was explained by the fact that at that time Germany was not yet under Nazi rule, and the IOC decided that such a step would help bring Germany back into the ranks of civilized countries. Problems arose after 1933, when Hitler's strongly nationalistic and anti-Jewish views became government policy. Goebbels made every effort to convince the Fuhrer to reconsider his attitude towards the Olympic Games. He argued that hosting the Olympics would demonstrate Germany's renewed strength to the world community and provide the party with first-class propaganda material. In addition, the competition will allow the undoubtedly strong German team to demonstrate “Aryan” athleticism to other nations. The Fuhrer was persuaded. The Fuhrer agreed. 20 million Reichsmarks were allocated for the Games, i.e. 8 million US dollars.

“The very foundation of the modern revived Olympic movement would be undermined if individual countries were allowed to restrict participation in the Games on grounds of origin, faith or race.”

Olympic rules prohibited any racial or religious discrimination; many athletes and sports organizations insisted on a boycott of the German Games.

Avery Brundage himself was categorically opposed to the boycott. He said the Olympic Games “belong to athletes, not politicians.” In 1935, his motives in supporting the Games began to raise some suspicions, as he suddenly announced that in fact there was a real force behind the opponents of the Berlin Olympics - a “Jewish-Communist conspiracy.” This is bullshit. This, of course, was not true, since even some Jewish sports organizations opposed the boycott. However, to deal with the protest, Brundage and other IOC officials visited Berlin in 1934 and assessed the situation of discrimination in Germany. Naturally, the Nazis were properly prepared to welcome their dear guest for this visit. In Berlin, all signs of anti-Semitism have completely disappeared; members of the commission were able to meet with Jewish athletes, who assured them of their complete freedom to play sports.

The boycott controversy was resolved on December 8, 1935, when the Amateur Athletic Union voted to participate in the Games. Nevertheless, many athletes still decided not to go to Berlin. An alternative “people's Olympics” was even planned for July 1936 in Barcelona, Spain, but its holding was prevented by the outbreak of civil war there.

Shortly before the Games in Berlin, February 6-16, 1936, Germany hosted the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Bavarian Alps). This Olympics gave the Reich leadership the opportunity to test techniques, which were then brought to perfection during the Berlin Olympics. Thus, for the sake of decency in the face of foreign guests, all manifestations of anti-Semitism were stopped.

The guests who visited Berlin in 1936 can be understood: many of them thought that German anti-Semitism was simply a myth. All anti-Jewish posters, brochures and books temporarily disappeared from the streets and shelves. German newspapers were prohibited from publishing anti-Semitic stories and articles for the entire period of the Games. Berlin residents were even ordered to refrain from making negative public statements about Jews from June 30 to September 1. To create the impression of the liberalism of the Third Reich, even one half-Jewish woman (quite incidentally of “Aryan” appearance) - fencing champion Helena Mayer - was allowed to participate in the Games as part of the German team. At the Winter Olympics, the team also had one athlete with half Jewish blood - hockey player Rudi Ball.

"The northern section of the Olympic Village, originally used by the Wehrmacht, should not be called barracks, but will now be called the 'northern section of the Olympic Village'."

The world press was delighted. Only two or three of the most perceptive reporters were able to look behind the beautiful façade - but even they did not see the full picture. In the northern suburbs of Berlin, the Oranienburg concentration camp was already filling with Jews and other undesirables.

The opening ceremony of the Games was well remembered by everyone who saw it. Guns were firing all over the city. Hitler personally released 20 thousand carrier pigeons at the Shportpalast stadium. The nearly 304-meter-long Hindenburg zeppelin circled the stadium with a giant Olympic flag in tow. In the middle of all this splendor, athletes from 49 countries of the world walked in front of the gathered crowds of spectators.

It would be appropriate to quote Joachim Fest here:

“On August 1, to the solemn ringing of the Olympic bell, Hitler opened the games, surrounded by kings, princes, ministers, and numerous honored guests. When the former Marthon Olympic champion from Greece, Spyridon Louis, handed him an olive branch as a “symbol of love and peace,” the choir sang the anthem created by Richard Strauss, and flocks of doves of peace soared into the sky. This picture of a reconciled planet created by Hitler fit well into the fact that some of the teams entering the stadium (including the French who had just been provoked!), passing by the podium, raised their hands in a fascist salute, which they later made up for points in terms of resistance were readily declared an “Olympic greeting.”

Germany fielded the largest team – 348 athletes. The United States team was the second largest, with 312 members, including 18 African-Americans. The delegation was led by the President of the American Olympic Committee, Avery Brundage. The Soviet Union did not take part in the Berlin Games.

However, although many Nazi prejudices seemed to be confirmed, some of them came into clear conflict with reality. Half-Jewish fencer Helena Mayer took second place, and Jewish athletes from other countries won gold and silver medals. In such a paramilitary sport as fencing, the primacy of the Jews was very unpleasant for the Nazi leaders. But Mayer's invaluable contribution to Nazi propaganda more than compensated for this trouble. Standing on the podium, she gave the Nazi salute in full uniform, and at a reception in honor of the Olympic medalists, she shook hands with Hitler. She was captured in her documentary “Olympia” by Leni Riefenstahl.

In general, the awards were distributed as follows.

No. / Country / Gold / Silver / Bronze / Total

1 - Third Reich 33 26 30 89
2 - USA 24 20 12 56
3 - Hungary 10 1 5 16
4 - Italy 8 9 5 22
5 - Finland 7 6 6 19
6 - France 7 6 6 19
7 - Sweden 6 5 9 20
8 - Japan 6 4 8 18
9 - Netherlands 6 4 7 17

A much more serious challenge to Nazi dogma and prejudice was the success of the black athlete from the United States, Jess Owens. Overall, the American team performed very well and won 56 medals, 14 of which were won by black Americans. Owens' performance left a strong impression on the audience. Not only did he compete in the 4x100m relay and help the American team win gold in that event, but he also won gold in the 100m and 200m sprints, as well as the long jump.

The amazing success of Jess Owens was very unpleasant for the Nazis and put them in an awkward position. Goebbels personally instructed the German press not to harass black athletes during the Games. Instead, Owens' achievements were simply pushed aside and hushed up, and Hitler refused to shake hands with Owens or any other black athlete. At the same time, in the United States, Owens' success was presented as a defeat of Nazi ideology. However, the United States itself had something to think about in terms of race relations. And they lynch blacks. One very unpleasant incident occurred during the Olympics: Avery Brundage suspended Marty Glickman and Saint Stoller from participating in the track and field relay. They were the only Jews on the track team, and Brundage's action was rightfully regarded by many as a fawning attempt to please Hitler.

Nazi Roots of the Olympic Movement - III

In addition:

I can’t help but imagine the results of the ingenious combination of the Anglo-Saxons, after Germany was used for its intended purpose and was appointed the only one responsible for unleashing WWII.

Dresden after the Allied bombing, long before the Red Army entered it

The area of the zone of complete destruction in Dresden was 4 times larger than the area of the zone of complete destruction in Nagasaki. The population before the raid was 629,713 people, after - 369,000 people.

Pierre de Coubertin, reviving the Olympic Games, preached the principle of “Sport outside of politics.” However, already spectators of the first Olympics witnessed political demarches. And in 1936, the Olympic Games were used for political purposes by the state for the first time. The “starter” of the tradition of “political Olympiads” was Hitler’s Germany.

Failed Olympics

By the decision of the IOC in 1912, Berlin was to become the capital of the VI Summer Olympic Games in 1916. A sports complex has begun to be built in the capital of Germany. The complex remained unfinished. In 1914, the First World War canceled the games, and the failed Olympic champions dispersed to different fronts to shoot at each other.

Rogue State

Five years later, in 1919, the victorious countries gathered at Versailles to decide the post-war fate of Germany, which lost the war. They tore through Germany like wounded jackals. There were 26 jackals and each one tried to snatch a fatter piece. Germany was cut off territorially from all sides and a huge indemnity was imposed. Several generations of Germans had to work without straightening their backs to pay off their debts. Additionally, Germany was excluded from the political, social and cultural life of Europe. She found herself isolated. Important international events were held without the participation of its representatives; they were simply not invited, and those who dared to come without permission were not allowed further than the front hall. That is why Germany is not on the lists of countries participating in the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games.

Berlin fights for the Olympics

In 1928, the excommunication was lifted and German athletes took second place at the IX Olympics in Amsterdam, proving to the whole world that the Teutonic spirit had not disappeared from Germany.

Having made a hole, Germany began to intensively expand it and applied for the right to become the host of the XI Olympic Games. In addition to Berlin, 9 other cities expressed the same desire. On May 13, 1930, in Lausanne, IOC members had to make the final choice between Berlin and Barcelona who had reached the final. Berlin won by a huge margin (43/16).
But in 1933, a question mark appeared at the end of the phrase “Berlin is the capital of the XI Olympiad.”

Why do the Nazis need the Olympics?

Hitler, who came to power, was not a supporter of the Olympic Games and called them “the invention of the Jews and Freemasons.” And in Germany itself, the attitude towards the Games was by no means unambiguous. Many Germans were neither going to forget nor forgive the humiliation at Versailles, and did not want to see athletes from England and France in Germany. The anti-Olympic movement among the Nazis was gaining momentum. The “skirmisher” was the National Socialist Union of Students. In their opinion, Aryan athletes should not compete with representatives of “inferior” peoples. And if the Olympics cannot be postponed, then it must take place without the participation of German athletes. Hitler did not see any value in the Olympics for promoting the ideas of National Socialism: after the triumph of 1928, in 1932 in Los Angeles, Germany ended up in 9th place. What superiority of the Aryan race there is!
Goebbels convinced Hitler.

Goebbels's arguments

It was the Minister of Propaganda who suggested that Hitler not only support the Olympics, but take it under state custody and use it to create a new image of Germany and promote the Nazi regime. According to Goebbels, the Olympic Games will show the world a new Germany: striving for peace, not torn apart by internal political contradictions, with a united people, led by a national leader. And a positive image is not only a way out of political isolation, it is also the establishment of economic contacts and, as a result, an influx of capital, which Germany so badly needs.

The Olympics will give impetus to the development of sports in the country. The basis of any army is a soldier - strong, healthy, physically developed. The war-oriented Nazis never tired of holding actions in favor of sports.

One of these actions was a football match held in 1931 between the Sturmovik (SA leadership) and Reich (NSDAP leadership) teams. The Reich team consisted of: Hess, Himmler, Goering (1st half), Ley, the goal was defended by Bormann. “Sturmovik” won with a score of 6:5, but the party press wrote “correctly”: “Reich” won.

But even hundreds of events carried out cannot compare in their effect to 2 weeks of the Olympics.
The Olympics will rally the people around the Fuhrer and the regime. As for the sporting achievements of the German team, the head of the German NOC, Karl Diem, swore that this time the German athletes will not let them down.

How to prepare for the Berlin Olympics

Having decided to make the Berlin Olympics the largest among all those previously held, Hitler began to implement the decision. If earlier the NOC of Germany planned the budget of the Games within 3 million Reichsmarks, then Hitler increased it to 20 million. They began to build a sports complex, which included a stadium with 86,000 seats, an outdoor sports arena, a swimming pool, an outdoor theater, a riding arena, and a separate hockey stadium and an Olympic village of 500 cottages. It was planned to install a 74-meter-high bell tower at the stadium, for which a 4-meter bell weighing 10 tons was cast, which became the symbol of the XI Olympiad.

Karl Diehm put forward the idea of bringing the torch with the burning Olympic flame to Berlin from Athens itself in a relay race. Goebbels liked the idea, the Fuhrer approved. (This is how the tradition of the Olympic torch relay began.)

If earlier the opening and closing of the Games was limited to the passage of athletes along the stands of the stadium under their national flags, then Goebbels planned to hold theatrical shows, thereby establishing another tradition.
The world-famous documentary film star Leni Riefenstahl began preparing for the filming of the 4-hour film “Olympia” (the first large-scale film recording of the games).

Sports in Aryan style

But the Third Reich remained the Third Reich. Soon the IOC began to receive reports of persecution of Jews taking place in Germany. They did not bypass the field of sports. “Racially inferior” physical education enthusiasts were expelled from sports societies and expelled from sports associations. The IOC demanded clarification, threatening to revoke Berlin's status as the capital of the Olympic Games. Dispatches came from Germany that all this was vile slander from the enemies of a resurgent Germany, and in general, what kind of persecution are you talking about?! If there were individual cases, then each such incident will be investigated, measures will be taken, and the perpetrators will be found and punished. The IOC was quite happy with these answers.

In September 1935, the so-called The Nuremberg Laws limiting the rights of Jews and Gypsies. The persecution received legislative justification. A total “cleansing of the ranks” began in sports societies and sections. Neither sporting successes, nor ranks, nor titles were taken into account: German champion Eric Seelig was expelled from the boxing association. What can we say about others who did not have such regalia!
In response, a movement began around the world to boycott the Berlin Olympics.

Boycott!

The movement was led by US sports societies. They were soon joined by sports organizations from France, Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and the Netherlands. Political, social, religious and cultural organizations that had nothing to do with sports joined the protest movement. The idea of holding alternative Folk Games in Barcelona was born and promoted to the masses.

The IOC, facing the prospect of disruption of the games, sent a delegation to Berlin with the task of clarifying the situation on the spot. Germany has seriously prepared for the visit. The guests were shown the Olympic facilities under construction, were introduced to the program of events, were shown the Olympic village, and sketches of numerous badges, medals, awards and souvenirs. During the visit, the Nazis took the time to clear Berlin of anti-Semitic slogans and “Jews are unwelcome” signs. The visitors were given a meeting with Jewish athletes, who stated with surprise that this was the first time in their lives that they had heard about the infringement of Jews in Germany. To assuage the conscience of sports functionaries, fencer Helen Mayer, an emigrant from Germany living in the United States, who had a Jewish father, was included in the German Olympic team.

(Subsequently, the athlete will thank Hitler: standing on the second step of the podium, at the time of the award, she will throw out her hand in a Nazi salute. She will never be forgiven for this.)

However, the move with Helena Mayer was even unnecessary: the IOC representatives were so amazed by the scale of the upcoming Olympics, so blinded by its future splendor and greatness, that they no longer saw and did not want to see anything.

Necessary digression: Shy Olympics

The first Olympic Games were not events on a global scale. In 1896 in Athens (I Olympic Games), 241 athletes took part in the competition. At the II Games in Paris in 1900, many athletes had no idea that they were taking part in the Olympic Games. They were sure that these sporting events were being held as part of the World Exhibition taking place in Paris. Games then were a set of competitions, divided among themselves in time and space. The II Olympic Games were held from May 14 to October 28, 1900, the III - from July 1 to November 23, 1904, the IV - from July 13 to October 31, 1908.

Other competitions also took place; the Olympic Games could easily have gotten lost among them and faded into oblivion, just as the Goodwill Games disappeared (who remembers them now?).
Slowly, very slowly, the locomotive of the Olympic movement picked up speed, and the games of 1936 gave it a very great acceleration.

What they saw simply amazed the IOC members. They realized that if the Olympics were held in Berlin, they no longer had to worry about the future of the competition: the former modesty of the Olympic Games would be over forever. They took the bait. The IOC delegation returned from Germany with a firm decision: the Olympics should take place only in Berlin!

How the boycott failed

The IOC's decision was supported by the US NOC. There was no unity among the athletes themselves; many did not want to lose the chance that comes once every four years. The situation was resolved on December 8, 1935, when the US Amateur Athletic Committee spoke in favor of participation in the Olympics. Following him, sports organizations from other countries also said “in favor”. The boycott came down to a personal decision by individual athletes.

The boycott movement was finished off by Coubertin's statement of support for the Berlin Olympics. The founding father of the Olympic Games received a letter from German NOC member Theodor Lewald asking for support. Attached to the letter were 10,000 Reichsmarks - the Fuhrer's personal contribution to the Coubertin Foundation. What could a 73-year-old baron, faced with financial difficulties in his declining years, oppose to such heavy artillery!
The Olympics have not yet started, and Berlin has already won the first half.

The idea of a boycott lived until the last day. On July 18, athletes gathered in Barcelona for the People's Olympics. But on the same day, “a cloudless sky over all of Spain” was broadcast on the radio. A civil war broke out in Spain, and there was no time for the Olympics.

Dress rehearsal - Winter Olympics 1936

From February 6 to 16, the Winter Olympic Games were held in the Bavarian Alps in Garmesch-Partenkirchen, which Hitler considered as a trial balloon. The first pancake didn't come out lumpy. The Olympic guests were delighted. They were greeted by a winter stadium with 15,000 seats and one of the world's first ice palaces with artificial ice with 10,000 seats. The IOC management recognized the organization of the games as impeccable. Not a single incident marred the sports festival. (Previously, the Nazis “cleared” the city of Jews, gypsies, unemployed people, politically active troublemakers and anti-Semitic slogans.) Significantly, the Jew Rudi Bahl, one of the best hockey players of that time, was appointed captain of the German hockey team.

To Hitler’s delight, the first 4 places were taken by representatives of the “Nordic” race - Norwegians, Germans, Swedes, Finns, which fit perfectly into the Nazi racial theory. The star of the Olympics was the Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie. Hitler was more than satisfied with the results of the Olympics and expected even greater triumph from the Summer Olympic Games.

Olympics with Nazi characteristics

4,066 athletes from 49 countries and about 4 million fans arrived at the Olympic Games in Berlin. 41 countries sent reporters to cover the competition. Berlin was cleaned and licked to an incredible shine. Not only city municipal services, but also local branches of the NSDAP, the German Ministry of the Interior and the Berlin police took part in preparing the city for the sports festival. Gypsies, beggars, and prostitutes were evicted outside the city. (The city was “cleansed” of Jews back in 1935.) Goebbels banned the publication of anti-Semitic articles and stories in newspapers during the Olympics. Anti-Jewish posters and slogans disappeared from the streets, and relevant books and brochures were confiscated from stores. Even the residents of Berlin were ordered to refrain from publicly expressing negative attitudes towards Jews.

And the swastika was everywhere: on thousands of banners hung around the city, on hundreds of posters, it was embossed on sports facilities, adjacent to Olympic symbols, and was present on badges and souvenirs. According to the plans of the organizers, the symbol of Nazism should have been present even on the Olympic medals, but the IOC reared up: “Sport is outside politics!”, and the awards of 1936 were not “decorated” with the Nazi “spider”.

Another amazing novelty awaited Berlin guests: the world's first live television broadcast from the Olympic Games. (I’m sure this is news to many.) A network of television showrooms (33) was organized in Berlin, each of which had 2 televisions with a 25x25 cm screen, serviced by a specialist. During the Olympics, the salons were visited by 160 thousand people. It was more difficult to get tickets for them than for the stadium, but those who visited the TV shows had something to talk about at home upon their return.

Highlights of the Olympics

On the very first day of the competition, Germany tasted triumph: Hans Welke became the Olympic champion in the shot put. The stands went wild. Hitler invited the Olympian to his box.

On March 22, 1943, Belarusian partisans fired at a German convoy. Two policemen and a German officer, Hauptmann Hans Welke, were killed. On the same day, the Dirlewanger team carried out a punitive “retaliation action”: a nearby village was burned along with its inhabitants. The village was called Khatyn.

The “highlight” of the Olympics was the fight between the German Lutz Long and the black American Jesse Owens in the long jump. At first Owens was in the lead with a score of 7.83 m. Long comes out. The stands froze. He runs away. Jumping. Flies. Heels dig into the sand. 7.87! Olympic record! The stands are roaring. Owens comes out again and in the last fifth attempt he wins (his second) Olympic medal - 8.06! Long was the first to run up to Owens and congratulate him on his victory. Having embraced, the athletes went under the stands.

Jesse Owens will stand on the first step of the podium twice more. The American anthem was played 4 times in honor of a black athlete from the United States.

Long and Owens' friendship continued for many years, despite the war that separated them. In 1943, while in the army, Lutz wrote a letter in which he asked Jesse, in the event of his death, to become a witness at the wedding of his son Kai Long. On July 10, Chief Corporal Lutz Long was mortally wounded and died three days later. In the early 50s, Jesse Owens fulfilled a friend's request and became best man at Kai's wedding.
Olympic scandal

When talking about the 1936 Olympic Games, one cannot ignore the story of how Hitler refused to shake the hand of black Jesse Owens. Was it or wasn't it? When on August 4, after his triumphant victory in the long jump, the moment came to congratulate Olympic champion Jesse Owens, it turned out that Hitler, who had never missed the opportunity to congratulate the Finns or Swedes, was not in the box. The Nazi functionaries explained to the stunned IOC officials: “The Fuhrer has left. You know, the Reich Chancellor has so much to do!”

On the same day, IOC Chairman Bayeux-Latour gave Hitler an ultimatum: either he congratulates everyone or no one. Hitler, estimating that the next day he would most likely have to congratulate the Americans, chose the second option and on August 5 defiantly did not leave his place on the podium, which, however, did not upset him at all: he was quite pleased with the general course of the Olympics.

Who won the Olympics?

Definitely: Nazi Germany won the Olympics, achieving all its goals - political, sports, propaganda. German athletes took the most medals - 89, followed by US athletes - 56. Without bothering with such trifles as the ratio of gold-silver-bronze, and in which sports Germany was the leader, Goebbels never tired of repeating: “This is it, clear confirmation superiority of the Aryan race! He did not disdain outright fraud. When on the opening day the athletes walked around the stadium, throwing their right arms forward and up in the so-called. "Olympic salute", all German newspapers wrote that the Olympians threw out their arms in a Nazi salute.

Today this symbol of the Olympics has not been cancelled, but has been safely forgotten. Not a single athlete would risk an Olympic salute under fear of being accused of promoting Nazism.

The world media sang the praises of German organization and order. Germany demonstrated to the whole world the unity of the people and the Fuhrer. 4 million propagandists of the Nazi regime scattered all over the world: “What kind of horrors are you telling about Germany? Yes, I was there and I can personally testify: all this is lies and propaganda of the left!”
Jesse Owens told how he could freely go to any cafe, any restaurant in Berlin, and ride on public transport along with whites. (If he had tried to do this in his native Alabama, they would have hung it on the nearest tree along with the Olympic medal!)

In 1938, Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia was published. The film won a bunch of prizes within a year, continued to collect awards until 1948, and is still considered a masterpiece of sports documentary filmmaking.

Despite this, after the war, Leni Riefenstahl was accused of promoting the ideas of National Socialism, she was branded a Nazi, and she was expelled from cinema almost forever. She shot her next film about the beauties of the underwater world, “Coral Paradise,” in 2002, a year before her death.

After the Olympics

Hitler himself was very pleased with the results of the Olympics and once told Speer that after 1940 all Olympic Games would be held in Germany. When the question of postponing the Winter Olympic Games arose in 1939 (Japan, which had started a war with China, was recognized as an aggressor country and deprived of its status as host of the Olympics), Germany submitted an application. The Anschluss of Austria had already passed, the Munich Agreement had taken place, and Czechoslovakia had disappeared from the political map. The Third Reich openly rattled its weapons. But the IOC was so eager to repeat the Berlin Olympic miracle that it could not resist - Garmisch-Partenkirchen was to once again become the capital of the Winter Olympics. Even in September 1939, IOC officials were still hesitant: “Well, why all these scandals? Poland has fallen, the war is over, there is peace and order in Europe again,” not wanting to notice that this order is new, German. It was not until November 1939, when Germany she recalled it herself his candidacy, the upset IOC decided not to hold the Winter Olympics.

The question of the Summer Olympic Games was soon resolved by itself. In 1940, no one in Europe thought about a sports festival. German youths, brought into sports by the Berlin Olympics, were distributed among various military units. Glider pilots - in the Luftwaffe and parachutists, yachtsmen - in the Kriegsmarine, wrestlers and boxers - in various sabotage teams, equestrian masters - in the cavalry, and bullet shooting virtuosos went to improve their skills in sniper schools. Hitler himself lost interest in sports; he was no longer interested in sports, but in military battles.

The next Olympic Games took place in 1948 in London. As before, fans watched the athletes’ competitions with tension, but different winds were already blowing over the Olympic stadiums. Among the noisy applause of the spectators, sports functionaries heard the crunch of new banknotes. More than once or twice, the Olympic Games have become the subject of bargaining and political blackmail.
In Berlin in 1936, the first “political Olympics” was revealed to the world. She wasn't the last. The tradition established in Berlin has successfully survived to this day and is not going to die.
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