The International Olympic Committee faces criticism after selling shirts featuring designs from the 1936 Berlin Nazi Olympics.
Shirts from Nazi Olympics on sale
The XXV Winter Olympics in Italy are taking place from February 6 to 22. On this occasion, gadgets and clothing from the “Olympic Heritage” collection appeared in the event’s online store. This collection includes motifs from past editions of the games, including the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Shirts featuring the original poster designed by Franz Würbel were put up for sale.
The collection description reads: “The Olympic Heritage collection celebrates the art and design of the Olympic Games. Each edition reflects a unique time and place in history when the world came together to celebrate humanity.”
IOC faces criticism
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has faced criticism. According to the DPA agency, the German Green Party’s spokeswoman for sports policy accused the IOC of “insufficient reflection on its own history.”
Klara Schedlich, quoted by the weekly “Stern,” stated: “The Olympic Games in 1936 were a major tool of the Nazi regime’s propaganda.” Christine Schmidt, director of the Wiener Holocaust Library in London, told CNN: “The IOC should consider whether any aesthetic assessment of these games can be easily separated from the horror that followed them.” The shirts from the 1936 games have already been sold out.
IOC defends its decision
The International Olympic Committee defended its decision in a statement sent to CNN: “Although of course we are aware of the historical aspects of ‘Nazi propaganda’ associated with the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, we must also remember that during the games in Berlin, 4,483 athletes from 49 countries competed in 149 medal events.”
The statement continued: “Many of them amazed the world with their sporting achievements, including Jesse Owens.” Owens, a Black athlete, won four gold medals during the German games, which contradicted the Nazi authorities’ ideology of Aryan racial superiority.