BERLIN - Germany
Although the 1936 games were initially planned to be hosted in Barcelona, they were finally held in Berlin, thus celebrating the rise of the Nazi movement. Germany even managed to host the winter games in the same year at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Only a handful of politicians were concerned by the disturbing nature of this monopoly. The French politician, Pierre Mendès-France, opposed the vote for a subsidy to enable the French team to go to Berlin. He was quite right!The Olympic stadium in Berlin was guarded by the SA, and swastikas adorned the Olympic rings. During the parade, the German Olympic team saluted Hitler, in Nazi style.It is ironical that the hero of the games was Jesse Owens, a black American, who won four gold medals. The Nazis nicknamed him America's black mercenary. The fürher had to salute him, and therefore found it difficult to prove the superiority of the Aryan race. It is worth mentioning that the Berlin games saw the introduction of canoeing and basket ball as Olympic sports. Dr. Naismith, basketball's inventor, was Germany's guest on this occasion.Today Berlin is once again the capital city of a unified Germany. The city was a candidate for hosting the 2000 Millenium games.