Nazi Olympics: How Black and Jewish Athletes Challenged the “Master Race”
The Nazis embraced the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a chance to demonstrate their theory of the dominance of a “master race.” Both Jewish and Black athletes were motivated to shatter that myth. When the games came to an end, African American athletes claimed a quarter of America’s medals. Though they had brought glory to their country, they returned home to a segregated nation, and many soon felt their sacrifice was forgotten.
In this digital program, Dr. Damion Thomas, sports curator at the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Dr. Daniel Greene, president and librarian, Newberry Library, and curator, Americans and the Holocaust special exhibition at the Museum, discuss the Nazi Olympics with Dr. Edna Friedberg, a Museum historian.
