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What if They Held an Olympics, But Nobody Came Because of Tibet?
In 1931, the International Olympic Committee selected Berlin as the venue for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. After the horrors of the World War and the political and economic upheavals which bedeviled Germany during the 1920′s, the award was heralded as a sign that Germany had returned to the community of civilized nations. Only two years later, however, Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany and began installing a highly efficient and pervasive propaganda machine. Almost immediately, the process of converting a free country into a single-party dictatorship was undertaken. Dissent was squelched. Thousands of political opponents of the new Nazi party were rounded up and sent to concentration camps without anything approaching a right of trial. A new human race was invented – the “Aryan” race – and was set in place as the standard against which policies regarding the subjugation of all others would be measured, especially Jews and Gypsies. Those who were not certifiable “Aryans” were to be marginalized and excluded from every aspect of life in Germany. The process of subjugation and control had begun.
At first, Hitler did not understand the propagandistic possibilities which the upcoing Olympic Games presented; but Josef Goebbels, his minister of propaganda, convinced him in ample time that they presented a unique opportunity to display to the world the superiority of the “Aryan race” and the triumphant return of a risen Germany to the world stage. Nothing was to be left undone, no effort was to be spared, in order to show to the world a credible image of an efficient, prosperous, happy, and welcoming nation. In the background, however, news continued to seep out of Germany regarding the increasing marginalization of the Jews and, in particiular, the persecution of Jewish athletes. Avery Brundage, who was then President of the American Olympic Committee, together with many others in parallel capacities, originally considered taking the 1936 Games away from Germany. However, following a closely-scripted and managed review of existing and planned sports facilities in Germany, they publicly concluded that Jewish athletes were not being treated unfairly and that the venues of the 1936 Winter and Summer Games would not change.
Even so, the controversy continued, especially in the United States. The Governors of New York and Massachusetts, both of them Roman Catholics, publicly opposed American participation in the Games, as did “The Commonweal,” an influential Catholic publication. The American Jewish Congress (as well as non-religiously-oriented groups) sponsored mass rallies in protest of persecution of the Jews in Germany; but the AJC did not go so far as to propose a boycott of the Games for fear of adverse reaction in the United States and of retribution against the Jews, and especially against Jewish athletes, in Germany. Some African-American publications opposed a boycott too, on the ground that successes by African-Americans at the Olympics would put the lie to Nazi claims of superiority of the supposed “Aryan race.”
Avery Brundage successfully pressed the American Athletic Union to vote against a boycott. That vote broke the ice, and many other nations followed suit. The upshot was that 18 African-Americans – 16 men and 2 women – participated in the Games. Germany fielded 348 athletes at Berlin, the largest team of all. The United States was second, with 312.
Goebbels saw to it that the Games were used as a perfect platform for a no-holds-barred expansion of the Nazi propaganda machine. It was a spectacular show, say people who were there and still remember it – parades, events, rallies, banners, rituals, uniforms, bright colors, music, stylized enterdtainment, all highly regimented to the point of perfection. Berlin had become a Potemkin city; the performances were fakery. Behind the scenes, out of sight, the repression against the Jews continued. The German press and radio were strictly censored in their domestic reportage of the ceremonies.
Hitler himself opened the Games, to great ritual and the sound of great German music. For the first time, a runner entered the stadium while carrying a torch which had been carried by relay runners all the way from the venue of the original Games in Olympia, Greece. That was the beginning of the modern torch-relay extravaganza, which it taking place as this is being written.
To Hitler’s enormous embarrassment, the African-American runner Jesse Owens won four Gold Medals at those Berlin Olympic Games. It is sometimes forgotten that nine other African-Americans won medals there, too. Hitler refused to shake hands with Owens or with any of the others. The empty pretension of the so-called “Aryan race” had been exposed. Even so, Hitler felt vindicated, since all of the intense planning, coercion, and propaganda had worked – and to top it off, Germany’s own athletes had won the most medals overall. The warmth of the hospitality and organizational precision were widely praised. Only American correspondent William L. Shirer understood the big picture and reported the reality which lay behind the facade.
Hitler was so pleased with the result that he told his general architectural inspector in 1937 that, following the Games which had already been scheduled to be held in Tokyo in 1940, thenceforth the Olympic Games would be held in Germany forever.
Some of the similarities between Berlin 1936 and Beijing 2008 are uncanny. Both represent what are postulated to be non-political athletic contests, but which instead have been hijacked by dictatorial expansionist regimes for their own propagandistic purposes. One possible difference hasn’t played out yet: Avery Brundage was able, by force of personality or otherwise, to bully or cajole the American committee into foreswearing a boycott of the Games, whereupon other countries promptly fell into line. This time it’s different. The United States has no control over the public protests in free nations over China’s treatment of Tibetans which, so far, have erupted in London and Paris; and certainly no control over peaceful protests today in San Francisco. As the Flame is carried through other free nations, it is reasonable to anticipate that protests will continue there as well. President Sarkozy of France has intimated that he may not attend the opening ceremonies of the Games. President Bush had indicated earlier that he intends to be present, but who knows? As events evolve, he may change his mind.
All of this uproar must be an enormous embarrassment to the Chinese leadership, most specifically including China’s President, a large part of whose reputation he has staked upon the smooth success of the Games. Is his job at risk?
What would happen if, as has been rumored, athletes from free nations give up their dreams of competing in the Olympic Games because of the suffocating smog which hangs over Beijing?
Without doubt, the Chinese propaganda machine will continue to run at full blast in an effort to pretend that everything is normal, and will continue to vilify the Dalai Lama as the instigator of the unrest in Tibet. But the genie is out of the bottle. China cannot control every camera or microphone or laptop or cellphone everywhere, whether within or outside of China.
This is an enormously interesting, and important, spectacle which is a long way from conclusion. The effects of China’s attempt to control every aspect of the lead-in to the Olympic Games – and the conduct of the opening ceremonies and of the Games themselves – will be felt for a long time to come, not only in the world of amateur athletics, but in myriad ways we don’t even imagine. Certainly political and business relationships between major nations will be impacted for years. Some damage has already been done. In recent days, one investment newsletter after another has remarked upon the possible effects of a failed Olympics upon the Chinese stock market, which has already fallen 50% from its high in October 2007. The photos which have been taken, and which are yet to be taken, will be safe in archives, recoverable and publishable worldwide on demand.
China’s leadership group is in for the ride of its life. The tyrants are frightened.
About the Author
The author (as CandleWave, LLC) publishes an investment advisory newsletter at http://www.candlewave.com/ He has passed the NASD Series 65 Investment Adviser exam. Creator of “Candelaabra” technical analysis system. Retired attorney and corporate EVP.
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