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The Olympic Games are the ultimate competition for thousands of athletes who have prepared for years to do their best in a test that sometimes lasts only a
The Olympic Games are the ultimate competition for thousands of athletes who have prepared for years to do their best in a test that sometimes lasts only a moment. For host cities and countries, this celebration is a way to export a flawless image to attract tourists. That is why, in addition to improving sports facilities, the cities hosting the games are designed from the ground up to dazzle visitors.
The idea was not much different for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. 20 years earlier, in 1916, the event was to be held in the German capital, but was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. After the end of sanctions against the Germanic country and the tarnishing of Germany’s image, the city once again applied as a candidate for the Olympic Games. In 1931, shortly before Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, it was decided that Berlin would host the 1936 Olympic Games.
When the final decision was made, the capital of Germany had only one rival: Barcelona. The decision (and subsequent events in Hitler’s Germany) did not please the Spanish authorities (or other commissions in different countries), so Spain refused to participate in the 1936 Olympic Games and the government of the Second Republic decided to organize its own competition, a parallel Olympics, in order to boycott the Olympic Games.
What the city of Barcelona did not count on in the Popular Olympics, which had the support of many countries and would be held in the same summer of 1936, was… Francisco Franco.
As we said at the beginning, the Olympic Games are a great way to sell the image of both a city and a country. Moments like the lighting of the cauldron in Barcelona 92, the opening of the London 2012 Games by James Bond or the magnificent Beijing 2008 ceremony, to name three Olympic Games, are stored in the collective retina. OO. end. These are moments that will remain in history, and Hitler’s propaganda machine was fully aware of this.
Thanks to this desire to sell the positive image of Germany and technological advances, The 1936 Olympic Games were the first to be broadcast live on television. They were also the first to be photographed and recorded on colour film, and everything contributed to the portrayal of a monumental, powerful and… tolerant Germany of everything that the Third Reich could be, something that can be seen in the documentary ‘Olympics’. 1938 was the high point of this propaganda.
This was the new Roman Empire, or so they saw themselves, and it was something they used the propaganda machine to do to get the Olympic flame from Athens, the site of the first Games, to Berlin, or to the Olympic flame launch. The Hindenburg airship flying over the Olympic province.
No room for another swastika
There were also infamous incidents such as Hitler not saluting Jesse Owens. He became American A symbol against everything that Nazi Germany had already enactedHitler’s move was expected, but there is little talk about the fact that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the candidate for President of the United States, also did not receive and congratulate him at the White House. The reason? Owens was black, and Roosevelt needed southern support.
But before all this, the ‘Nazi Olympics’ were subject to boycott attempts. Although not in depth, different countries were already aware of Germany’s expansionist policies as well as its racial persecution practices. In fact, Gretel Bergmann was one of the best German athletes but was excluded because she was Jewish. There were countries looking for another place for the games and the Second Spanish Republic decided it was time to take action.
The Popular Front and the Catalan Government, stung by the loss of the still-burning venue, argued not only not to participate in the Berlin Games but also to celebrate a parallel event: the People’s Olympiad. Barcelona had the infrastructure and the main venue would be the Montjuïc Barcelona Olympic Stadium, built in 1927. The city had hotels built for the 1929 International Exhibition and it was planned to use them as the Olympic Village.
Invitations and a program were sent out in a city that was quite ready to host an event of this magnitude, both due to weather conditions and existing infrastructure. The newly born Popular Olympiad was to be held from July 19-26that is, it would end a week before the Olympic Games, and even if they did not boycott the date, athletes who participated in the first one might not go to the second one.
And it almost worked out well.
The idea was to host regular competitions as well as non-competitive events such as music, theatre or folk dances, and many countries responded to the invitations. Apart from the official delegations, Many teams were formed through unions, clubs and different left partiesWhat is surprising, however, is that around 6,000 athletes registered. The Berlin Olympic Games again saw the participation of 3,963 athletes from 49 countries, and it would be curious to see the ‘official’ Olympic Games have fewer participants than the Popular Olympics.
Participating forces included the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Sweden, Algeria, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, and even teams of German and Italian exiles, among others. Even teams representing Jewish exiles were registered. Everything was arranged and well planned.An opening show for the popular Olympiad had been planned and even a song of defiance to Hitler composed by the exiled German Jew Hanns Eisler, and numerous athletes and participants had already been prepared for the event in Spain.
The opening ceremony was scheduled for July 19, but it was the day before the military uprising that would begin the Civil War. In a time when news did not travel as quickly as it does now, this must have been alarming for everyone, especially those attending the meeting. There were athletes who were supposed to enter the country at the last minute but could not because of the border closures. Others, such as the North American gymnastics delegation, woke up to gunfire in their hotels.
That’s what Bernard R. Danchik, captain of the Williamsburg gymnastics team, told a story a few years ago, about how they spent several days locked in a hotel, leaving only to get supplies and attend an event in support of the Republicans. The delegations left the country, and Danchik’s gymnastics team did the same, returning to New York on Aug. 3. But the coach Alfred Chakin returns to Spain to join the International Brigadesbut was captured and executed by the fascists in 1938. He was one of 200 athletes who remained or returned to Spain to fight alongside the workers’ militia.
The last Berlin Olympic Games before World War II were held as the Spanish Civil War broke out, and it would be 14 years before a new edition, the London Games of 1948. And yes, for a few years there were popular alternatives to the Olympic Games to protest the aristocratic vision, but the Popular Olympics were a direct struggle against Germany, Hitler and international sports motivations.
Images | Fritz Lewy, Jordiferrer, Wikimedia
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Source: Xatak Android
Ashley Johnson is a science writer for “Div Bracket”. With a background in the natural sciences and a passion for exploring the mysteries of the universe, she provides in-depth coverage of the latest scientific developments.
