1936 Opening of the Olympic Games in Berlin

80 years ago, on August 1, 1936, the XI Summer Olympic Games opened in Berlin. Before that, the idea of ​​a boycott of the Olympics because of the totalitarian and racist regime established in Germany was widely discussed, but was ultimately rejected by the Olympic committees of all countries. The main argument was that the representatives of the "inferior", from the point of view of the Nazis, races will be able to prove at the Olympics that they are able to defeat the "true Aryans". Three Jewish swimmers from Austria, who nevertheless boycotted the Olympics, were disqualified for life and stripped of all awards "for obvious disrespect for the Olympic spirit."

The very fact of the Olympics and the convincing victory of the German athletes in the team event were used by Nazi propaganda to convince the world that nothing had changed for the worse in Germany after Hitler came to power and she was still a respected member of the international community.