Olympics and the Nazis

The world's greatest sporting event has finally arrived. But while you're all excited about the London Olympics it may shock you to know that much of the pageantry of the Olympic Games (especially the torch relay) actually has influences from Nazi propaganda. Unlike the Olympic flame, which symbolises the stealing of fire by Prometheus from Zeus, the torch relay did not originate from the ancient Olympics. It was in fact started by Nazi sports administrator, Carl Diem. As the General Secretary of the German Olympic Committe, this guy was responsible for helping Berlin win the 1936 Olympics in 1931. Adolf Hitler, who came to power 2 years later, was originally not too keen on the Olympics and called it "an invention of Jews and Freemasons." However, Joseph Goebbels (the Nazi propaganda minister) was like "Hey wait a minute. This is like the world's greatest sporting event! Why don't we use this as a chance to showcase Aryan racial supremacy?" Hitler was convinced and, after a meeting in March 1933, told Carl Diem that he would support the Olympics. The Nazis used the opportunity of the Olympics for racial propaganda purposes by claiming that the great civilization of Ancient Greece was due to the supremacy of the Aryan race. Carl Diem came up with the idea of the Olympic torch relay to link the ancient Olympics with the modern Olympics. Hitler wanted to use the torch relay to supposedly represent the connection between the rituals and ceremonies of Ancient Greece and the claimed physical superiority of the so-called "master race" that the Nazis were eager to show the world at the Berlin Games. Like all other Olympic torch relays after it, the first one in 1936 was lit in Olympia, Greece (the site of the Ancient Games) and eventually made its way to Berlin. On the way it went through Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia. It's interesting to note that all of these countries would later suffer the fate of Nazi oppression. Another interesting fact is that the 1936 Berlin Olympics were actually the first to be broadcast live. This made spreading Nazi propaganda a whole lot easier because you could reach a far greater audience more effectively than just through word-of-mouth. So when you're watching the London Olympics and getting all pumped up don't forget that the Olympic Movement is not all about world peace and harmony. Also, you will notice that many of the athletes are sponsored by Adidas. There's Nazi connections there too. But that's another post!