Helene Mayer

Helene Mayer was harshly discriminated against, and was used for propaganda in Germany. Mayer herself didn't consider herself a Jew, but the Nazi's did. according to the Nuremburg laws, she was, because her father was. Because of this, Germany refused to invite her to the 1936 Olympics, even though she had won many gold medals for Germany in the past. But under the IOC (International Olympic Committee) they were forced to let her compete. Because they had a Jewish woman competing in the games, and there was nothing Germany could do about it, they decided to use her a propagandistic tool for the Nazi's to prove that they placed no restrictions on Jewish athletes. 

Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens, an African American Olympic gold medal champion, was Discriminated against very harshly by Germans during the Olympics. After winning 4 gold medals, Hitler refused to medal him, or even shake his hand ("the 1936"). "The Americans should be ashamed of themselves, letting Negro's win their medals for them. I shall not shake hands with this Negro... Do you really think that I will allow myself to be photographed shaking hands with a Negro?" said Hitler ("The 1936"). This was one part of the reason some countries thought about boycotting the Olympics in 1936.

Nuremburg Laws

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The Nuremburg laws taught in a local school
The Nuremburg Laws were put in place in 1935 to prevent any Jew to participate, and be a part of normal German society (Goode, Joshua). The first law, The law for the protection of German Blood and German Honor, banned marriage and intercourse between a "pure" German, and German Jew. The second law, The Reich Citizenship law, stripped Jews of their Citizenship and introduced e a distinction between "Reich Citizens" and "Nationals" (Goode, Joshua). These laws were put in place to further prevent the Jewish population from becoming part of the German community, and further expanded the racism and discrimination already in Germany. 








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Jesse Owens, an American Olympic athlete winning his historic 200 meter race with a time of 20.7 seconds, in the Berlin Olympics 1936. Here, he established a new Olympic world record.