The following articleis from the July 1987 issue of The Nationalist Times, which I edit. The article was itself reprinted from the now-defunct Instauration magazine. I rarely engage in the kind of defensive preambles so favored by Americans when they write or utter a politically incorrect opinion, but will state up frontthat I am against all kinds of totalitarianism. What I believe in is truth, and individual freedom within a nationalist context.
The 1936 Olympics Reconsidered
The 1936 Olympics, popularly known as the "Nazi Olympics," are supposed to have disproved once and for all the Aryan Myth. This most infamous of all racist myths, so the story runs, was discredited primarily by the amazing athletic feats of one man, Jesse Owens, who dominated the Games and personally humiliated Hitler.
Owen's performance was, in fact, extraordinary. He won a total of four gold medals -- the 100 and 200 meter races, the broad jump and a shared team medal in the 400 meter relay.
There were only a handful of other blacks on the U.S. Men's Track and Field Team, but their contributions were disproportionate to their numbers. Out of 23 events, America won 12 gold medals. Of this total, blacks won six and shared in a seventh. They also acquired three second-place silver and two bronze third-place medals. (A Canadian black also won a bronze.)
A very impressive record. But does it really shatter any once-sacred cows about race? To answer this question, let's delve a bit deeper into the records. We might find one or two items the propagandists -- the real myth-makers -- forgot to tell us about the 1936 Olympics.
The Germans' performance at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics had been disastrous -- only three gold medals. The U.S., on the other hand, had won 47 events and finished first in the overall standings.
Berlin had been named as the site of the XI Olympics as early as 1931. But when Hitler came to power in 1933, the Olympics issue became front-page news inside and outside Germany. Elements within the Nazi Party, isolationists of a kind, believed that races should never, never mix, even athletically. Also the debacle at Los Angeles was fresh in just about every German mind. Some Nazi ideologues feared that theories which were basic to the Third Reich might be discredited before they were given the opportunity to get off the ground.
It took Hitler over a year to make up his mind about Germany hosting the 1936 Games. Once he reached his decision, the project received his full support. A nationwide scouting system was instituted to find high-caliber athletes. After extensive trials, the best of the best underwent a solid year of training under government coaches. Despite the official backing, however, the "amateur ideal" was still honored. Athletes paid their own way and received no material awards either before or after the Games.
The IV Winter Olympics, also awarded to Germany, took place at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in February 1936. The 1932 Winter Games had been held in Lake Placid (NY). As at Los Angeles, the home team won the most gold medals. The German results at Lake Placid added up to a paltry two bronzes.
It was a different story in the Bavarian Alps. Paced by Christal Cranze, Germans excelled on the ski slopes, winning the first gold medals ever awarded in alpine racing by taking both the men's and women's downhill and slalom (combined points). Germans also placed first in the pairs figure skating and second in the total medal count behind the powerful team from Norway. The U.S. (one gold, three bronze) finished eighth.
The Summer Games began in Berlin on August 1. Once again the American men's team won most of the track and field medals. It is at this point, however, that the anti-Nazi mythmakers begin to take over.
The Germans excelled in the "weight events," winning three out of four. In the shot put, formerly dominated by the U.S., which had taken eight of the previous nine golds, Germans finished first and third. In the hammer and javelin, two events in which Germany had never before placed, they acquired two golds and a silver.
Nor were the men the only stars. Women's Track and Field was relatively new to the Olympics. In Los Angeles the German women had done no better than the men. It was different in Berlin.
Although American women won two of the six events, they had no second or third-place finishers. Once again, Germans dominated the "weight events," taking first and third in the discus and first and second in the javelin. Other German women collected a silver and two bronzes. A final tabulation showed that Germany finished first in the overall women's Track and Field standings. The U.S. came in second.
Although track and field usually receives the most attention, the 1936 Olympics had 19 other sports: basketball, boxing, cycling, diving, equitation, fencing, field hockey, field handball, gymnastics, kayaking, modern pentathlon, polo, rowing, shooting, soccer, swimming, weight lifting, wrestling, and yachting. German athletes did remarkably well in many of them, occasionally overshadowing the competition.
Previous German achievements in Olympic boxing had been mediocre. This time around Germans not only won more medals than in all the past Olympics combined; they also won more medals than any other team in Berlin. The best the U.S. could do was one bronze.
If the Germans' proficiency in boxing was something of a surprise, their success in two of their traditionally strong sports, gymnastics and equitation, was expected -- but not to the extent of taking first place in the overall team competition in horsemanship and all six individual events: show jumping, dressage, team dressage, three-day individual and three-day team. The U.S. managed to garner one silver.
Meanwhile, German gymnasts were equaling their performances in previous Olympiads. Individually, they brought home the gold in five of eight events, while earning the overall men's and women's team title. The U.S. score was zero.
German marksmen burned up the shooting competition, winning more medals (three) than any other country. Zero medals for the U.S.
And it was not just on dry land that the Germans were successful. Out on the River Spee they won five of seven rowing events, compared to America's one gold and one bronze.
When the dust of the IX Olympiad finally settled in the middle of August, the scoreboard read:
Germany: 33 gold, 26 silver, 30 bronze.
U.S.: 24 gold, 20 silver, 12 bronze.
Using the standard formula of awarding three points for a first, two for a second and one for third, Germany finished with 181 points, the U.S. with 124. Combining both Winter and Summer medal counts, Germany again finished in front of the second-place U.S. It was the first time since the beginning of the Winter games that the U.S. had not finished first.
From practically nowhere in 1932 to the overall Olympic championship in 1936 is an astonishing turnaround in the annals of the Games. Yet the story is hardly known. Why?
For one thing, the American reaction was one of disbelief. It was a stupendous upset of the favored American team. Then there was the controversy over Nazi athletic policy, one aspect of which barred Jews from the German team. Pressure from the International Olympic Committee, however, had forced Germany to add a part-Jewish ex-Olympian to its contingent. She was Helen Mayer, who in 1936 was living in the U.S. Eight years earlier in Amsterdam, she had won a gold medal in fencing for Germany. In Berlin she duelled her way to a silver. On the victor's platform, after receiving her medal, she gave Hitler a Nazi salute.
Finally, the great mob of liberals and leftists who balk at any and all forms of racism, except of course minority racism, were not interested in the "German Olympics." All they wanted to do was distort and downplay the Nazi victory. By concentrating on Hitler's refusal to shake hands with Jesse Owens, a media concotion later denied by Owens himself, and by emphasizing the Jewish angle, they more or less succeeded.
Some skeptics say the home team always performs well in the Olympics. Was 1936 exceptional?
To find the answer, we must look to the Eastern bloc, where what happened in the IX Olympiad is being reaffirmed on a quadrennial basis. As Romania produces its champion pubescent gymnasts and Czechoslovakia grooms its unbeatable tennis stars, the Communist giant, the Soviet Union, picks up more medals than anyone else in Olympic competition. A triumph for socialism? Not really.
As for the increasing athletic prowess of blacks in recent years, it is true that they have branched out into other Olympics sports than track and field, mainly boxing and basketball. But this still leaves some 25 different sports in which they are conspicuous by their absence. The non-presence is even more noticeable in the Winter Olympics.
The myth of the 1936 Olympics, that the theory of Nordic athletic superiority had been forever destroyed, turns out to be spurious, as does the similarly false idea that blacks have established themselves as the world's foremost athletes.
The two myths will undoubtedly continue to make good newspaper copy. But what is printed is not always true. And what is printed about athletics, especially when a real or imagined racial angle is included, is likely not only to be mythical, but 95 percent hype.
The 1936 Olympics Reconsidered
The 1936 Olympics, popularly known as the "Nazi Olympics," are supposed to have disproved once and for all the Aryan Myth. This most infamous of all racist myths, so the story runs, was discredited primarily by the amazing athletic feats of one man, Jesse Owens, who dominated the Games and personally humiliated Hitler.
Owen's performance was, in fact, extraordinary. He won a total of four gold medals -- the 100 and 200 meter races, the broad jump and a shared team medal in the 400 meter relay.
There were only a handful of other blacks on the U.S. Men's Track and Field Team, but their contributions were disproportionate to their numbers. Out of 23 events, America won 12 gold medals. Of this total, blacks won six and shared in a seventh. They also acquired three second-place silver and two bronze third-place medals. (A Canadian black also won a bronze.)
A very impressive record. But does it really shatter any once-sacred cows about race? To answer this question, let's delve a bit deeper into the records. We might find one or two items the propagandists -- the real myth-makers -- forgot to tell us about the 1936 Olympics.
The Germans' performance at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics had been disastrous -- only three gold medals. The U.S., on the other hand, had won 47 events and finished first in the overall standings.
Berlin had been named as the site of the XI Olympics as early as 1931. But when Hitler came to power in 1933, the Olympics issue became front-page news inside and outside Germany. Elements within the Nazi Party, isolationists of a kind, believed that races should never, never mix, even athletically. Also the debacle at Los Angeles was fresh in just about every German mind. Some Nazi ideologues feared that theories which were basic to the Third Reich might be discredited before they were given the opportunity to get off the ground.
It took Hitler over a year to make up his mind about Germany hosting the 1936 Games. Once he reached his decision, the project received his full support. A nationwide scouting system was instituted to find high-caliber athletes. After extensive trials, the best of the best underwent a solid year of training under government coaches. Despite the official backing, however, the "amateur ideal" was still honored. Athletes paid their own way and received no material awards either before or after the Games.
The IV Winter Olympics, also awarded to Germany, took place at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in February 1936. The 1932 Winter Games had been held in Lake Placid (NY). As at Los Angeles, the home team won the most gold medals. The German results at Lake Placid added up to a paltry two bronzes.
It was a different story in the Bavarian Alps. Paced by Christal Cranze, Germans excelled on the ski slopes, winning the first gold medals ever awarded in alpine racing by taking both the men's and women's downhill and slalom (combined points). Germans also placed first in the pairs figure skating and second in the total medal count behind the powerful team from Norway. The U.S. (one gold, three bronze) finished eighth.
The Summer Games began in Berlin on August 1. Once again the American men's team won most of the track and field medals. It is at this point, however, that the anti-Nazi mythmakers begin to take over.
The Germans excelled in the "weight events," winning three out of four. In the shot put, formerly dominated by the U.S., which had taken eight of the previous nine golds, Germans finished first and third. In the hammer and javelin, two events in which Germany had never before placed, they acquired two golds and a silver.
Nor were the men the only stars. Women's Track and Field was relatively new to the Olympics. In Los Angeles the German women had done no better than the men. It was different in Berlin.
Although American women won two of the six events, they had no second or third-place finishers. Once again, Germans dominated the "weight events," taking first and third in the discus and first and second in the javelin. Other German women collected a silver and two bronzes. A final tabulation showed that Germany finished first in the overall women's Track and Field standings. The U.S. came in second.
Although track and field usually receives the most attention, the 1936 Olympics had 19 other sports: basketball, boxing, cycling, diving, equitation, fencing, field hockey, field handball, gymnastics, kayaking, modern pentathlon, polo, rowing, shooting, soccer, swimming, weight lifting, wrestling, and yachting. German athletes did remarkably well in many of them, occasionally overshadowing the competition.
Previous German achievements in Olympic boxing had been mediocre. This time around Germans not only won more medals than in all the past Olympics combined; they also won more medals than any other team in Berlin. The best the U.S. could do was one bronze.
If the Germans' proficiency in boxing was something of a surprise, their success in two of their traditionally strong sports, gymnastics and equitation, was expected -- but not to the extent of taking first place in the overall team competition in horsemanship and all six individual events: show jumping, dressage, team dressage, three-day individual and three-day team. The U.S. managed to garner one silver.
Meanwhile, German gymnasts were equaling their performances in previous Olympiads. Individually, they brought home the gold in five of eight events, while earning the overall men's and women's team title. The U.S. score was zero.
German marksmen burned up the shooting competition, winning more medals (three) than any other country. Zero medals for the U.S.
And it was not just on dry land that the Germans were successful. Out on the River Spee they won five of seven rowing events, compared to America's one gold and one bronze.
When the dust of the IX Olympiad finally settled in the middle of August, the scoreboard read:
Germany: 33 gold, 26 silver, 30 bronze.
U.S.: 24 gold, 20 silver, 12 bronze.
Using the standard formula of awarding three points for a first, two for a second and one for third, Germany finished with 181 points, the U.S. with 124. Combining both Winter and Summer medal counts, Germany again finished in front of the second-place U.S. It was the first time since the beginning of the Winter games that the U.S. had not finished first.
From practically nowhere in 1932 to the overall Olympic championship in 1936 is an astonishing turnaround in the annals of the Games. Yet the story is hardly known. Why?
For one thing, the American reaction was one of disbelief. It was a stupendous upset of the favored American team. Then there was the controversy over Nazi athletic policy, one aspect of which barred Jews from the German team. Pressure from the International Olympic Committee, however, had forced Germany to add a part-Jewish ex-Olympian to its contingent. She was Helen Mayer, who in 1936 was living in the U.S. Eight years earlier in Amsterdam, she had won a gold medal in fencing for Germany. In Berlin she duelled her way to a silver. On the victor's platform, after receiving her medal, she gave Hitler a Nazi salute.
Finally, the great mob of liberals and leftists who balk at any and all forms of racism, except of course minority racism, were not interested in the "German Olympics." All they wanted to do was distort and downplay the Nazi victory. By concentrating on Hitler's refusal to shake hands with Jesse Owens, a media concotion later denied by Owens himself, and by emphasizing the Jewish angle, they more or less succeeded.
Some skeptics say the home team always performs well in the Olympics. Was 1936 exceptional?
To find the answer, we must look to the Eastern bloc, where what happened in the IX Olympiad is being reaffirmed on a quadrennial basis. As Romania produces its champion pubescent gymnasts and Czechoslovakia grooms its unbeatable tennis stars, the Communist giant, the Soviet Union, picks up more medals than anyone else in Olympic competition. A triumph for socialism? Not really.
As for the increasing athletic prowess of blacks in recent years, it is true that they have branched out into other Olympics sports than track and field, mainly boxing and basketball. But this still leaves some 25 different sports in which they are conspicuous by their absence. The non-presence is even more noticeable in the Winter Olympics.
The myth of the 1936 Olympics, that the theory of Nordic athletic superiority had been forever destroyed, turns out to be spurious, as does the similarly false idea that blacks have established themselves as the world's foremost athletes.
The two myths will undoubtedly continue to make good newspaper copy. But what is printed is not always true. And what is printed about athletics, especially when a real or imagined racial angle is included, is likely not only to be mythical, but 95 percent hype.
