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FEBRUARY 10, 2018

This Nazi propaganda film never succeeded because black excellence shut it down.

by Nicole Bonaccorso

In a time when racism was infecting Germany and segregation was commonplace in the U.S., one

man shattered world records, bridging differences with speed and grace.

That man was Jesse Owens, a black track and field star from Cleveland, Ohio, who had been

breaking records since his high school days. On Aug. 4, 1936, at the Olympic Games in Berlin, he not

only shattered a record, he foiled some of Hitler's propaganda plans.

Berlin had already won the bid to host the 1936 Olympics, a few years after the Nazi Party rose to

power. It was a gesture of inclusion on behalf of the Olympic committee after Germany was

devastated by World War I, but fascism was gaining ground in Germany as the Olympics

approached.

In response to reports of Jewish athletes being banned from competing on the German Olympic

teams, the U.S. and other countries threatened to boycott the 1936 Games.

Many Americans even began calling the 1936 event "The Nazi Games."

Fritz Schilgen carries the torch in

the 1936 Olympic Games. Image

via Narodowe Archiwum

Cyfrowe/Wikimedia Commons.

"The very foundation of the

modern Olympic revival will be

undermined if individual

countries are allowed to restrict

participation by reason of class,

creed or race," the president of

the American Olympic

Committee, Avery Brundage,

responded to Germany’s

persecution of Jewish athletes,

according to the United States

Holocaust Memorial Museum’s

Holocaust Encyclopedia.

However, many black athletes thought the boycott was arbitrary because they suffered racism at

home on a daily basis. They viewed the Olympics as a place to transcend racism and change ideas

about what it meant to be an American.

Since Germany wanted to avoid a boycott, they promised to include Jewish athletes on their Olympic

teams and refrain from promoting Nazi ideology during the Games.

After much deliberation, it was eventually decided that the U.S. would compete.

Germany pretended to put on a show of tolerance and strength as the Olympics host. Nazi

propaganda was hidden. Anti-Semitic imagery was temporarily removed. Germany’s 1936 Olympic

team included one Jewish athlete, fencer Helene Mayer. But of course, this was nothing but a

charade — a form of propaganda in itself. Of course, the Third Reich intended to use the very first

televised Olympics (a big deal for all involved) to their advantage.

Not only was Hitler going to show the world he was building a master race, he was going to make a

film about it.

He employed Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl to film the 1936 Games.

Leni Riefenstahl

behind the

scenes. Photo

by Oswald

Burmeister/German Federal Archives/Wikimedia Commons.

The footage was indeed released in two parts, titled "Olympia Part I: Festival of the Nations" and

"Olympia Part II: Festival of Beauty." The two films were released in 1938, showcasing the Nazi ideal

of athletic Aryan bodies, cultivated into machines ready to serve the state.

But here’s the thing — as much as Riefenstahl tried to follow her mandate to show Aryan supremacy

and not include footage of black athletes, Owens made the final cut. In fact, he makes direct eye

contact with the camera before his long jump win.

Even Riefenstahl, Hitler’s favorite propagandist, couldn’t hide the truth of Owens' amazing athletic

talents.

Owens’ defiant move followed by a series of wins effectively dashed Hitler’s dreams of declaring

German superiority.

< Jesse Owens at start of record

breaking 200 meter race during

the Olympic Games 1936 in

Berlin. Photo via U.S. Library of

Congress Prints and Photographs

Division/Wikimedia Commons.

On Aug. 3, 1936, he won the gold

medal in the 100-meter dash

event. The next day, he won the

long jump and then the 200-meter

sprint on Aug. 5. On Aug. 9,

Owens won the gold for the

4x100-meter sprint relay. The

medal sweep was a record-

breaking feat and was not

repeated until 1984.

With only his speed, Owens

managed to prove Hitler’s racist

theories wrong.

Albert Speer, Hitler’s chief

architect and one of his

ministers, wrote in his

memoir, "Inside the Third Reich"

that "[Hitler] was highly annoyed

by the series of triumphs by the

marvelous colored American

runner, Jesse Owens."

In the end, it wasn’t German

Olympic victories that made the

news, it was Jesse Owens.

Between the filming and the "Olympia" release, any interest Hollywood previously had in Riefenstahl’s

film was disrupted. Eventually, the film was recut into instructional videos for British military recruits.

The Nazi material was removed.

Sports have a way of bridging gaps and bringing people of all different backgrounds together, from

the athletes, to the cheap seats. Whether it’s athletes from countries across the world competing in

the Olympic Games or parents cheering for their child’s baseball game, both spectators and players

come together as a team to perform or to cheer.

Though the U.S. still had huge strides to make, and the atrocities of Nazi Germany had yet to be

revealed, Owens for a brief moment triumphed over the racism of the 1930s. Breaking records and

defying expectations, he became an American hero and a legend shared over the decades.

Jesse Owens in the long jump

competition at the 1936 Olympics.

Photo via German Federal

Archives/Wikimedia Commons.

His historic win carries a message we

should take into the present day.

Racism has no place in society. It leads

to the darkest of places. But

discrimination and intolerance is

outshined by truth even in the most

unexpected times.

Share image: U.S. Library of Congress

Prints and Photographs

Division/Wikimedia Commons.