A key role in the revival of the modern Olympic Games was played by the French public figure, educator Pierre de Coubertin. In recent history, the first competitions were held in 1896, in Athens. The right to host the XI Games in 1931 was granted to Germany. This was a significant event for the Germans, which marked the country's return to the world community after the defeat in the First World War.
Brief historical background
First of all, it should be said that in Germany, due to the extremely rapid development of history, there was never a single unchanged team. Together with other states, the country took part in competitions in Athens. In the next four Olympics, German participation was relatively smooth. But later the situation changed a little. In 1920, the Germans were not allowed to compete in Antwerp and 1924 in Paris. The reason was the incitement of the First World War. The situation in the interwar period improved somewhat. The Germans got not only the opportunity to take part in the competitions, but also become their masters. The summer games were in Berlin, the winter games the same year in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Summer Games in Berlin
The decision to host the Olympics in Nazi Germany was made in 1931, a couple of years before the Nazis came to power. The Germans tried to use international competitions as a means of propaganda. According to their idea, foreign athletes participating in the games should have felt their worthlessness. But that did not happen. The 1936 Olympics in Germany is often referred to as the "Owen Games." It was this American athlete who was able to win four gold there and become the most successful athlete of those competitions. The Nazi government, therefore, had to admit moral defeat. Nevertheless, despite all the political upheavals, there were also positive aspects. For example, the opening of the games in Berlin was broadcast live on television.
Competitions as the propaganda of Nazism
The German government tried to do everything so that the Olympics in Germany became a demonstration to the whole world of the achievements that the country achieved under Hitler. Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, led all the preparatory activities. The entire course of the International Games was thought out in great detail and designed on a scale unprecedented until then. In the shortest possible time, structures were erected that corresponded to the most modern technical and sports requirements at that time, including the Berlin Stadium for 100 thousand spectators. Placement of male participants was carried out in a specially constructed Olympic village. It should be noted that subsequently became a model for all subsequent such objects. The infrastructure in the Olympic Village was well thought out: there were first-aid posts, a post office, a bank, concert halls, and a Finnish sauna. Sportswomen were accommodated outside the village in comfortable apartments. Anti-Semitic propaganda was stopped for the duration of the games. Nevertheless, apart from the Olympic one, Nazi symbols were also used as decoration on the streets of Berlin. All old buildings were repaired, the city was put in full order.
Winter Olympics in Germany
Competitions were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It should be said that this Bavarian town appeared precisely thanks to the Olympics. The year before this grand event, the two settlements merged - Partenkirchen and Garmisch. To this day, the city is divided by the railway, and its parts are connected through pedestrian and automobile tunnels, which pass under the rails. The Olympics in Germany in 1940 could take place there. But the games were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II.
Boycott of International Competitions
The dominance of Nazi ideology, the abolition of civil liberties and rights, the brutal persecution of social democrats, communists and other dissenters, as well as anti-Semitic laws no longer left doubts about the dictatorial nature and aggressive, racist nature of the Hitler regime. The construction of concentration camps was actively underway, in two of which prisoners were already held in Sachsenhausen (near Oranienburg) and in Dachau (near Munich). By 1935, the German government introduced universal conscription. On March 7, 1936, Nazi soldiers entered the Rhine region (demilitarized at that time). This event was a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. In June 1936, the Paris International Conference was held. All its participants recognized that holding competitions on German territory is incompatible with the principles of the games themselves. As a result of the conference, a call for a boycott was formulated. The International Olympic Committee, responding to the demand, sent a special commission to Berlin. When assessing the situation, the experts did not find anything that in any way contradicted the Olympic principles.
Competition scale
The Summer Olympics in Germany hosted 49 teams. About 4 thousand athletes, including more than 300 women, fought in 129 forms for medals. The largest team was represented by Germany. She had 406 athletes. The second largest number of participants was the US team with 312 athletes. The Germans participated in all kinds of competitions. To calm public opinion, the team included one half-Jew - Helen Mayer, a fencer. She won Olympic gold in 1928, in 1932 she moved to the United States. But at the games in Berlin acted as part of the German team. After the competition, Mayer returned to America, and the Nazis sent her uncle to a concentration camp, where he died in a gas chamber. The 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany took place without the participation of the Soviet Union. The competition in Berlin was attended by about three million people, including about two million tourists from different countries. According to various estimates, more than 300 million people watched the progress of the games. The Summer Olympics in Germany, as already mentioned, became the first international competitions in history to be broadcast live. In Berlin, large screens were installed (25 in total) for collective viewing of games.
Goebbels hoax
Everyone who came to Berlin in 1936, including numerous journalists who represented the media of almost the whole world, saw Nazi Germany as a peace-loving, forward-looking, cheerful country, whose population adored Hitler. And the anti-Semitic propaganda, about which so many world publications wrote, seemed like a myth. Then there were very few astute journalists who noticed all this farce. This, for example, was William Shearer - an American reporter, and later a famous historian. A few days after the end of the games, he wrote that the Berlin splendor was only a facade that covered the oppressive, racist criminal regime. When the Olympics in Germany in 1936 ended, Hitler continued to implement his inhuman plans for German expansion, and harassment and persecution of Jews were resumed. And already in 1939, the first of September, the "peace-loving and hospitable" organizer of the International Games began the 2nd World War, in which tens of millions of people died.
Competition Results
The undisputed winner of the games in terms of the number of medals won was the German team. German athletes took 89 medals, of which gold - 33, silver - 26, bronze - 30. Conrad Fry - gymnast was recognized as the best of the team. He won one silver, three gold and two bronze medals. According to many historians, the successful performance of German athletes is due to the use of synthetic testosterone, which was developed in 1935. In second place in international competitions was the American team. Athletes from the United States won 56 medals: bronze 12, silver - 20 and gold - 24. The international community for a long time remembered the scope with which the Olympics in Germany took place. 1938 was a confirmation of this. On April 20 (Hitler’s birthday), the Olympia documentary was released. The premiere was dedicated to the International Games in Berlin. He shot the film Leni Refenshtal. At Olympia, a number of film effects, directorial and camera techniques were realized, which later began to be used in other works by other masters of the movie genre. Despite the fact that Olympia is considered by many connoisseurs to be the best sports tape, when watching it, one cannot help but notice that the whole film became a kind of “anthem” to the Nazi movement and Hitler personally.