Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Wasserturm in Prenzlauer Berg. North of Berlin, construction began on Sachsenhausen
concentration camp. During the so-called Köpenicker Blutwoche (Bloody Week) in June
1933, around 90 people were murdered. On 10 May, right-wing students burned 'un-Ger-
man' books on Bebelplatz, prompting countless intellectuals and artists to rush into exile.
OLYMPICS UNDER THE SWASTIKA
When the International Olympics Committee awarded the 1936 Games to Germany in
1931, the gesture was supposed to welcome the country back into the world commu-
nity after its defeat in WWI and the tumultuous 1920s. No one could have known that
only two years later, the fledgling democracy would be helmed by a dictator with an
agenda to take over the world.
As Hitler opened the Games on 1 August in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, prisoners
were putting the finishing touches on the first large-scale Nazi concentration camp at
Sachsenhausen just north of town. As famous composer Richard Strauss conducted
the Olympic hymn during the opening ceremony, fighter squadrons were headed to
Spain in support of Franco's dictatorship. Only while the Olympic flame was flickering
were political and racial persecution suspended and anti-Semitic signs taken down.
The Olympics were truly a perfect opportunity for the Nazi propaganda machine,
which excelled at staging grand public spectacles and rallies, as was so powerfully
captured by Leni Riefenstahl in her epic movie Olympia. Participants and spectators
were impressed by the choreographed pageantry and warm German hospitality. The
fact that these were the first Games to be broadcast internationally on radio did not
fail to impress either.
From an athletic point of view, the Games were also a big success, with around
4000 participants from 49 countries competing in 129 events and setting numerous
records. The biggest star was African American track-and-fieldster Jesse Owens, who
was awarded four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m relay and the long jump,
winning the hearts of the German public and putting paid to Nazi beliefs in the physic-
al superiority of the Aryan race. German Jews, meanwhile, were excluded from parti-
cipating, with the one token exception being half-Jewish fencer Helene Mayer. She
took home a silver medal.
Jewish Persecution
Jews were a Nazi target from the start. In April 1933, Joseph Goebbels, Gauleiter (district
leader) of Berlin and head of the well-oiled Ministry of Propaganda, announced a boycott of
Jewish businesses. Soon after, Jews were expelled from public service and banned from
