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JAN. 2«, 1999
Page A5
(£bc JJortíanh (©bseruer
Oregon Sports Hall Of Fame Museum
Explores Controversial 1936 Olympics In Nazi Germany
the components o f the Nazi police
state during 1933-36 (the “Führer,”
Nazi Party rallies, repression o f dis­
Focus - Hitler’s Use and Abuse
sent, concentration camps) and docu­
ofSports
ment a culture o f state-sponsored
Organized by the United States
racism and virulent antisemitism.
Holocaust Memorial Museum, Wash­
The exhibition then addresses
ington, D.C. and hosted by the O r­
how
the Nazi takeover o f all aspects
egon Sports Hall o f Fame Museum,
o
f
German
life even extended to ath­
Portland, The Nazi Olympics: Berlin
letes
and
sporting
organizations, ex­
1936 explores what happens when
cluding
all
but
those
who “fit” the
race, politics and sports collide, spe­
Nazi
racial
ideology.
cifically, at the 1936 Olympic Games
Nazi ideology viewed sports as
in Berlin. The 6,000 square foot exhi­
essential to the strength and purity of
bition premiers Monday, January 25,
the German "Aryan” race; it was used
1999, and runs through Saturday,
as a means o f indoctrinating youth
May 15, 1999. The Nazi Olympics
and preparing a generation for war. A
Berlin 1936
Reich Sports Office was formed to
The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936
coordinate
all sports groups, includ­
premiered July 19,1996, a the United
ing
the
planning
for the 1936 Olympic
States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Games.
The
exhibition
documents
Washington, D.C., and was on dis­
how,
in
violation
o
f
the
Olympic
spirit
play through July 1997. The opening
espousing
the
separation
o
f
sports
coincided with the 1996 Olympic
and politics and the doctrine o f “fair
Games in Atlanta, and commemorated
play,” Reich Sports Minister Hans
both the 60th anniversary o f the Ber­
von Tschammer und Osten was per­
lin Games and the centennial o f the
sonally involved in selecting athletes
modem Olympics. The exhibition now
for the German team.
travels to cities around the United
The Nazi fication o f German sports
States.
included
efforts to exclude Jews and
In view o f its mission to broaden
other
“non-Aryans”
from German
public understanding o f Holocaust
sports
and
recreational
facilities. The
history, the Museum has developed
exhibition
documents
how
nazi offi­
an exhibition that examines the Berlin
cials
expelled
top-ranked
Jewish
and
Games in the context o f mounting
Roma
and
Sinti
athletes
from
clubs
repression inNaziGermany. The Olym­
and competition, and how this trend
pics were awarded to the German
forced Jewish athletes to continue
Weimar democracy in 1931. But within
their training in separate Jewish sports
two years, AdolfH itler became Chan­
associations.
cellor o f Germany and began trans­
Growing international criticism of
forming the nation into a one-party
Germany’s
repressive measures, and
dictatorship and police state.
increasing
awareness
o f the exclu­
With the Nazi rise to power, the
sion o f Jews from Olympic training
Berlin Olympics became a focus of
facilities, fueled concern over the
controversy. Many observers in the
prospect of holding the 1936 Games
United States and other Western
in Berlin. Despite Nazi efforts to de­
nations questioned whether partici­
flect international criticism by prom­
pation in the 1936 Games would rep­
ising equal treatment for Jewish ath­
resent an endorsement o f Hitler’s
letes, many American newspapers
regime. Others argued that sports
and anti-Nazi groups, including the
should remain separate from politics.
Amateur Athletic Union, urged a
Although the internationalist spirit
boycott o f the Games.
o f the Olympics was contrary to the
In examining the boycott contro­
extreme nationalism espoused by the
versy,
the exhibition covers issues
Nazis, the Games afforded an irresist­
such
as
American Olympic Commit­
ible opportunity: to exhibit, on a world
tee
President
Avery Brundage’s Ger­
stage, a revitalized Germany whose
man
sympathies
and commitment to
athletes exemplified nazi racial theo­
the
Berlin
Games;
boycott rallies and
ries of Aryan superiority. In the end,
efforts
to
convene
alternative Olym­
1936 became the year o f ‘‘Hitler’s
pics; Jewish American responses to
G am es.’’This exhibition examines the
the boycott in light of American
tensions that characterized the “Nazi
antisemitism; worldwide protests,
Olympics” -- Games which, intention­
and the eventual close decision in
ally or not, afforded temporary inter­
favorof Americanparticipation. The
national legitimacy to their host’s
African American community's reac­
fascist regime.
tions to the boycott effort, including
The Exhibition
editorials charging hypocrisy in view
The exhibition opens by bringing
o f American discrimination against
visitors into the setting o f the 1936
Black athletes and arguments that
Games. Introductory panels illustrate
TheNaziOlympics
Berlin 1936
Black athletic victories would under­
mine Nazi racism are highlighted.
The Olympics them selves are
poised between propaganda imag­
ery and the reality o f a dictatorship
rearming for war. Nazi deception was
key: antisemitic signs were tempo­
rarily moved from public view during
the W inter 1936 Games held in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen. By theSum-
merGames in Berlin, the propaganda
machine was in full force. Despite
G erm any’s re-occupation o f the
Rhineland only a few months earlier
— an act o f aggression violating two
major peace treaties — posters, maga­
zines and exhibits promoting the Sum­
mer Games celebrated a national com­
mitted to peace.
Athletes and spectators alike were
swept up in the festive, dramatic cer­
emonies, opened by Hitler himself, at
the XI Olympiad. Joseph Goebbels’
Propaganda Ministry exercised strin­
gent control over the press coverage
o f the Games, even as a new major
concentration camp was under con­
struction ju st outside B erlin in
Sachsenhausen. In poster art, Ger­
many was presented as the modem
heir to the Greece o f classical antiq­
uity, the Aryan ideal. The 1936Olym-
pics are often best remembered as the
Games o f Jesse Owens and other
African American athletes. The exhi­
bition chronicles the success o f 18
African American athletes, conde­
scendingly referred to in one Nazi
newspaper as America’s “auxilia­
ries.” But their success at the Games,
while perceived as destroying the
Nazi myth o f “Aryan superiority,”
should be seen as a marginal victory,
since the segregation codes o f “Jim
Crow” continued for decades after
the 1936Games.
The participation o f Jewish ath­
letes also is examined: the pressures
to boycott the Games; the incentives
to participate; the tragedy and frus­
tration o f record-holders removed
from competition; even the decision
to allow a woman with partial Jewish
heritage to compete as a fencer on
behalf ofGermany.
In sum, the exhibition presents the
1936 Games as they were experienced
and as a first class diversion. The
progression o f events leading to
World War 11 and the Holocaust - the
reoccupation o f the Rhineland; the
German-Italian Axis pact; Nazi mili­
tary support o f the fascist regime in
the Spanish Civil War; the German-
Japanese alliance, and the continu­
ing persecution o f non-Aryans — was
absolutely unaffected by the glimpse
ofGermany afforded the world com­
munity during the 1936Games.
(Left)ln August 1936, Adolf
Hitler's Nazi dictatorship scored
a huge propaganda success
as host of the Summer
Olympics.
The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) had awarded
Berlin the Games in 1931.
Free Glaucoma Screenings
For more information, contact :
Steve Fletcher, Director of
Community Relations (503)359-2144
FOREST G RO V E— The national
Eye Institute, in coordination with the
American Academies ofOptometry and
Ophthalmology, has proclaimed Janu­
ary as Glaucoma Awareness Month. In
celebration of this proclamation, the
PacificUniversityCollegeofOptometry
Vision centers are proriding a program
office glaucoma screenings foradultsof
A *
all ages during the months of January
and February.
According to eye doctors, glau­
coma is one o f the leading causes of
blindness and vision loss. In many
cases, the effects of glaucoma can be
controlled if the disease is identified
and treated in its early stages. Glau­
coma screening are essential in de­
tecting the presence of this disease
before serious and permanent vision
occurs. Free glaucoma screenings are
... provided
; ~ J t—
- by
■ Drt/,,
F. /-* i mi
Pacific
university’s Vi­
sion Centers during January and Feb­
ruary via appointment. Pacific’s vi­
sion Centers offer weekday, evening
and weekend hours, with locations
throughout the greater Portland in­
cluding Downtown, Southeast and
Northeast Portland; and in Forest
Grove and Cornelius For more infor­
mation and to schedule a screening at
the Pacific Vision Center near you,
please call 357-5800.
Kids Get To Cruise The Willamette
Three hundred at-risk or
low-income children and youth
are cruising the Willamette
River on Sunday, Jan. 24, com­
pliments of the Sternwheeler
Colum bia G orge. Young
people who participate in
White Shield, Greenhouse,
Moore Street Corps Commu­
nity Center and additional Sal­
vation Army Programs will
view the city from a new per­
spective.
‘The kids are going to love
being out on the water,” says
Lt. Doug Riley, commanding
officer at Moore Street. “This
is an opportunity many of them
would otherwise never receive.
Most have never enjoyed be­
ing on a boat, or seen their
hometown from the river.”
The two-hour tour is made
possible by the Sternwheeler,
a grant from the j. Frank
Schmidt Family Foundation
and Raz Transportation.
The Salvation Army serves
more than 1,000 people a day
in the Portland-metro area.
Youth programs range from a
alternative school, homeless
youth services, sports leagues,
daycare, a residential treatment
program for teenage mothers,
to back-to-school and Christ­
mas distribution of clothing,
coats, toys and school sup­
plies.
For more information on The
Army’s youth services, call
503.234.0825.
Tips for a Safe Year
1. Enroll all members of your household in an American Red Cross safety class. Courses are
available for ages eight to adult.
2. Assemble a disaster supplies kit. Start with a flashlight, radio, batteries and non-penshable
food.
3. Store a three-day supply of water for cooking drinking and hygiene
—that’s one gallon per person per day.
4 Keep an American Red Cross first aid kit easily accessible and well stocked.
5 Discuss with your family where you would meet if you were separated during a disaster
identify an out-of-state emergency contact.
6. Hold regular fire drills and practice your household’s fire escape plan.
7. Post local emergency numbers-doctor, police, hospital, fire, veterinarian an p ar
macy—near each telephone.
Attention: Retired Associates of
Portland State University
The Retired A ssociates o f P o rt­
land State U niversity is pleased
to announce its February sched­
ule. On T hursday, Feburary 4,
fo rm e r b a lle t d a n c e r N a n c y
Killough will take us on an inter­
esting and inform ative backstage
tour inside the O regon Ballet The­
atre and share some o f her on­
stage experiences.
We are pleases to have Phil
Keisling, the Oregon Secretary of
State speak on the topic, “The Radi
cal Middle in Oregon Politics: Per­
ils and Prospecte", on Feb. 11, Both
programs are scheduled for the Nor­
dic Room in Smith Hall at P.S.U at
12:30 p.m.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968
TR I-M E I
238-RIDE
How we g e t t h e r e
m a tte rs
TTY 238-581 1 • wwu.tri-met.org