About Us

[email protected]

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:54:59 -0700, wrote:

In fact, a large amount of what has been written about Hitler and Nazi
Germany has been particularly subject to the pressure of political
correctness: a good example is the story of 1936 Olympics and the
Black American athlete Jesse Owens.

The 1936 Olympics

The story most repeated about Hitler and the 1936 Olympic Games in
Berlin, which were unquestionably put on as a political showcase for
Nazi Germany, is that Hitler refused to shake the hand of the American
Black athlete Jesse Owens after the latter had won a race. This myth
is extremely widespread: the Encarta Encyclopedia, issued by Microsoft
(1998 edition) states the following in its entry under Jesse Owens:

"Owens, Jesse (1913-80), one of the greatest track-and-field athletes
of all time . . . A member of the U.S. track team in the 1936 Olympic
Games, held in Berlin, Owens won four gold medals. He won the 100-m
dash in 10.3 sec, equaling the Olympic record; set a new Olympic and
world record of 20.7 sec in the 200-m dash; and won the running broad
jump with a leap of 26 ft 5I in., setting a new Olympic record. He was
also a member of the U.S. 400-m relay team that year, which set a new
Olympic and world record of 39.8 sec. Despite Owens' outstanding
athletic performance, German leader Adolf Hitler refused to
acknowledge his Olympic victories because Owens was black. Owens went
on to play an active role in youth athletic programs and later
established his own public relations firm. His autobiography, The
Jesse Owens Story, was published in 1970." "Owens, Jesse," Microsoft«
Encarta« 98 Encyclopedia. (r) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All
rights reserved."

In reality what happened was that Hitler personally attended the first
day of the track and field competition on 2 August 1936, and did
personally congratulate the German athlete Hans Woellke, who became
the first German to win a gold medal in the Olympics since 1896.

Throughout the rest of the day, Hitler continued to receive Olympic
champions, German and non German in his VIP box.

The next day, 3 August, the chairman of the International Olympic
Committee, Comte Baillet-Latour approached Hitler early in the morning
and told the German leader that he had violated Olympic protocol by
having winners paraded to his box.

Hitler apologized and gave an undertaking that he would from then on
refrain from publicly congratulating any winners, German or otherwise.
During this day, did Owens win his gold medals - and in line with the
Olympic Committee's ruling, Hitler did not shake his hand, or anybody
else's for that matter, at the games again.

It is therefore utterly false to claim that Hitler deliberately chose
to ignore Owens. In fact, in the very autobiography that the Encarta
Encyclopedia extract above refers to, The Jesse Owens Story, Owens
himself recounted how Hitler had stood up and waved to him:

"When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I
waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing
the man of the hour in Germany."

Another common story about the 1936 Olynpic games is that Owens'
victory "disproved the Nazi master race theory" - in fact the Olympic
games as a whole were won by the German team with 89 medals, compared
to the 56 medals won by the second placed USA team.

In what was to become an act of extreme irony, the American president
of the time, Franklin D. Roosevelt, then involved in an election and
concerned about the reaction in the USA's southern states, refused to
see Owens at the White House: Owens was later to remark that it was
Roosevelt, not Hitler, who snubbed him.

This is a good example of one of the more outstanding distortions
which have sprung up around Nazi Germany, all as a result of a
political agenda linked to Nazi Anti-Jewishness. It is also true that
it is the victors' prerogative to write the historical account of
events: this too has served to cloud the issue of the Third Reich and
to make it into the political hot potato that it remains over fifty
years after it vanished.

Owens has high praise for his Olympic experience. He acknowledged that
he and Hitler exchanged waves. Owens later stated that he received
better treatment in Berlin than in
New York City. Under pressure from the "tribe" he then maintened
"political silence".
Any surprise?

striker

From time to time it is the duty of historians to correct, at least,
the most common of misconceptions.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Jesse Ventura...a classic interview...	HK	General	32	May 15th 09 06:02 PM
Obama's Controversial Berlin Speech	Mike[_9_]	ASA	0	July 14th 08 02:42 PM
Owens speedboat	[email protected]	General	3	August 24th 05 11:09 PM
Jesse Jackson's latest blunder	Bart Senior	ASA	31	July 14th 04 07:37 AM
us at the al owens	llaa1100	General	0	July 18th 03 07:23 PM

Menu

About Us