![]() ![]() From left, Japan's Naoto Tajima (bronze), American Jesse Owens (gold) who set an Olympic record in the event and Germany's Luz Long (silver) giving a Nazi salute, August 8, 1936.įrom almost the get-go, Owens seized the reins as the star of the 1936 Summer Olympics. The gold, silver and bronze medal winners in the long jump competition salute from the victory stand at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Owens became the first American to win four gold medals in track and field He eventually expressed his desire to compete in the Games, a position that drew the condemnation of African American publications and NAACP head Walter White. Like other elite Black athletes who grew up in an unequal society, Owens considered the moral stance against Germany to be hypocritical and wasn't inclined to surrender the chance to shine on a global stage. With American decision-makers aware of Hitler's discriminatory policies against Jews – but not yet aware of the scope of the horrors to come – a fierce debate raged about whether to boycott the 1936 games.Īmateur Athletic Union president Jeremiah Mahoney argued that participation amounted to support of the Third Reich, but he was outdone by the American Olympic Committee head Avery Brundage, who insisted that the Games were for the athletes and not the politicians. Owens nearly didn't get the chance to make Olympic history. The United States almost boycotted the 1936 Olympics ![]() Ralph Metcalfe was a silver medalist at the 1932 Olympics and at one point shared the world record in the 100-meter dash.Īnd a Temple University sprinter named Eulace Peacock emerged as a highly formidable opponent to Owens, even beating him multiple times in head-to-head competition in 1935, before suffering a hamstring injury that squashed his 1936 Olympic hopes. ![]() He wasn't the only African American athlete making waves. He tied the world record in the 100-yard dash while still in high school, and his performance at the 1935 Big Ten Championships, in which he established three world records and matched a fourth over a span of 45 minutes, remains one of the most extraordinary accomplishments in collegiate sports history. Meanwhile, Jesse Owens had emerged as a track and field sensation in the States. This short little gem of 100 pages will further the reader’s understanding of an essential yet seldom discussed tool that helped Hitler succeed in motivating the masses of Germany to perpetrate their heinous crimes.American runner Jesse Owens running in the 200-meter sprint, setting a new Olympic record, August 1936. It was used in massive rallies where the master of ceremonies would shout “Sieg” (meaning “Victory”) and the tens of thousands in attendance would respond with “Heil.” In Hitler’s Germany the notion of the salute was a galvanizing social element. He required that it be used as public greeting and salutation accompanied with the words “Heil Hitler,” which means “Hail, Hitler.” In Hitler’s mind, the parallel between the salute proffered him and the salute demanded by the great conquering Caesar was clear, direct, and incontrovertible. Clearly, Hitler made the salute his own. Like many of the other trappings of Hitler and Nazi Germany, it was borrowed from a great society and given a special twist. The Hitler salute was by no means original. The Hitler Salute is a translation from the German Der Deutsche Gruß, better translated as “the German salute.” The question becomes, how much of the salute was for Germany and how much was for Hitler? There are places in the world where a hand gesture literally communicates an entire paragraph of ideas and emotions. Some are insulting, some are complimentary. ![]()
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