Hitler’s Olympics

The modern Olympic Games owe their grand scale and spectacle to the 1936 Berlin Games, orchestrated by Adolf Hitler to project Aryan supremacy and German legitimacy. While the Olympics began in 1896 as minor "sideshow" events, the Nazi regime transformed them into a massive global showcase of power. This historical pivot raises profound moral questions regarding American participation and the "games behind the games." Key figures in this narrative include Avery Brundage, who sought to control the Olympic movement; Dorothy Thompson, a clear-eyed reporter witnessing the rising threat; and Jesse Owens, whose four gold medals provided a complex counter-narrative to Nazi ideology. The exploration extends beyond the stadium to include legal precedents like Giles v. Harris and the personal machinations of diplomats and athletes, revealing how a band of thugs shaped the most celebrated sporting event in the world.