Olympic Stadium

Today we traveled to Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The 1936 Olympics were held here when Hitler was in power. During the Olympics, Hitler allowed only Aryans to participate for Germany, but removed all Anti-Jewish propaganda from tourist sites. The Nazis effectively "cleaned" Berlin of racist signs and such. Visitors to Germany were not subject to the normal harsh laws. As a result, Hitler basically fooled the rest of the world into thinking that the anti-Semite problem was not as bad as it truly was/would become in the next 10 years.

Originally, the US thought about boycotting the Olympics to avoid showing any support of the Nazi movement. We decided, however, that the event was based on athletic talent and politics. The Olympics of 1936 still had many boycotts, including those by Jewish and non-Jewish athletes.

Perhaps if other countries had investigated the Jewish situation more while they were in Germany for the Olympics, they would have been more apt to stop the treatment of Jews sooner. It is hard to think that so many great powers were in Berlin in 1936 and still did not realize how bad things were for the Jewish, gypsies, and mentally challenged people (or if they did realize, they still failed to take action).

The Olympic Stadium is still used today. The swimming pool is fully functional and there were swimmers and divers enjoying the weather there as we visited. The track and soccer stadiums are used for big events in Germany. As we were there, the track was being repainted for the World Track Meet in August. It is was fascinating to see the location of such a monumental place in not only Germany but all the world. It is one of my dreams to see the Olympics live, so it was a step in the right direction visiting the location of past games.

Unfortunately our internet connection isn't too great in the hotel so it won't let me add any pictures. I'll try to fix that later!

Auf wiedersehen,
Jess