1936 Berlin Olympics

      The 1936 Olympics was steeped in controversy and politics. It was held in Berlin, during the Nazi Regime. Hitler saw the games as a way to promote his theories of racial supremacy and antisemitism, a way to prove the athletic superiority of his 'Aryan' race. The German government is estimated to have spent roughly 30 million (USD) on the games. To further the already present turmoil of the games, many countries debated wether or not to boycott the games, many questioning the morality of going to games in Nazi Germany. However, boycott attempt was unsuccessful, after the US agreed to go, other countries followed in suit. It was the largest Olympic Games at that point, with 49 countries competing.

Affects on the Jewish community

     Because the games were held in Nazi Germany, German-Jewish athletes were stopped from keeping. The only event that had any German - Jewish athletes was swimming. They were all women and from a Jewish sports club, Hakoah Vienna. Hakoah Vienna hailed from Austria and they were exclusively Jewish. They gained world wide fame for their prowess in multiple sporting events. 

     Interestingly enough, instead of protesting this, a lot of other countries sidelined their Jewish athletes, to not offend the Nazi Regime. This attitude lines up with how a lot of countries felt, in terms of appeasing Nazi Germany and their strong fears of war. Despite this, there were still protests and Boycott debates that resulted from the Nazi Regimes Treatment of the Jewish people. 

     As a result, very few Jewish athletes competed in the 1936 Olympics despite the fact that Hitler made public assurances to Germany that Jewish athletes would be able to compete. It seems as though everyone knew that his claims were not true, because of the other countries attitudes towards their own Jewish athletes. 

   
     

Jesse Owens

     Jesse Owens is the most famous athletic figure to emerge from the 1936 Games. Jesse was born in Oakville Alabama. He was the son of two sharecroppers and was constantly sick as a child. However, by age 7 he was working in the cotton fields with the rest of his family. His family later moved to Ohio, where his life drastically changed. As a teenager he attended East Technical High School where he set records in the 100m, 200m, 100 yard, 220 yard low hurdles, 220 yard dash as well as long jump. He competed in 42 events that season, winning every single one. As the Olympics drew closer, Owens was a natural choice for the team, however racist attitudes of the time were prevalent in the German Olympics and his own team. However, Owens proved them all wrong by winning 4 gold medals and smashing two world records. 

Broadcasting

The 1936 Olympics were a milestone in terms of television. The games were broadcasted across Germany, as well as to the Olympic village in black and white. It was the first sports event that had been seen live on TV. In the charged political atmosphere, it's likely that Hitler's regime wanted to prove the Aryan superiority hypothesis across the world. But instead people witnessed a show of American dominance and Jesse Owens, a black American, smashing not just the world record, but also Hitlers ideas of a superior Aryan race. 

Olympic Games wouldn't be broadcasted world wide until 1964 in Tokyo, but it was still a huge milestone for sports and television. 

      

Sources: 

https://equaliserblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/hakoah-vienna/
https://www.biography.com/athlete/jesse-owens
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-televised-olympics?fb_comment_id=538681452902089_687441654692734