1936 OlympicsBy: Jackson Recht

Learning Target • I will use primary and secondary sources

to explain historical events.

•I learned from primary sources that Hitler and Jesse Owens were 2 very different men.

Main Question

How did the 1936 Olympics affect World War 2?

•Jesse Owens, the U.S., and other countries came in but did not dominate in Berlin. Instead Germany won more medals than anyone. But Jesse Owens sure got Hitler mad.

Adolph Hitler

His background:• Adolph Hitler was born April 20, 1889.• He joined the army during World War

1.• He was put in charge of the Nazis.• He believed that the greatest enemy of

all were the Jewish people.• He was a peasant during his younger

years.• He was a dictator from 1933 to 1939• He disliked African Americans.

Jesse Owens• Was an African

American Olympic athlete for the United States.

• He set the Junior high record for the high jump by hitting 6 feet.

• He also set the record in the broad jump with 22 feet 11 ¾ inches.

• He specialized in the sprints and long jump.

• He went into the 1936 Olympics in Germany and won 4 gold medals right in front of Hitler.

What happened in the 1936 Olympics?• Jesse Owens surprised many people by

winning 4 gold medals. He won the 100m, 200m, long jump, 4 x 100 relay.

• Adi Dassler(the founder of Adidas)

persuaded Owens to use Adidas shoes, the 1st sponsorship for an African American male athlete.

What was the result?

•The peoples reaction to Jesse’s success was welcoming.

•He was mobbed for signatures and he was a celebrity in Berlin.

•His victories only turned out to be a minor embarrassment to Nazi Germany.

Why did Hitler dislike Jesse Owens?•He disliked Jesse Owens because he was

an African American.• Hitler wanted the Olympics to show off

Germany’s achievements of the Aryan ( White German) race, but Jesse Owens ruined it by winning 4 track and field gold medals.

Why did Hitler dislike what happened in the Olympics?

• He disliked what happened because this was an opportunity for Germany to display its dominance.

• Instead the opposite happened, the U.S. was in control.

• They were led by Jesse Owens, an African American track runner, who won 4 gold medals.

Quotes from Jesse Owens• "We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into

reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.“

• "One chance is all you need.”• "I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn't in Berlin to

compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I'd learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself."

• "After I came home from the 1936 Olympics with my four medals, it became increasingly apparent that everyone was going to slap me on the back, want to shake my hand or have me up to their suite. But no one was going to offer me a job."

Adolf Hitler Quotes •“If you win, you need not have to

explain...If you lose, you should not be there to explain!”

•“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”

•“When diplomacy ends, war begins.”•“Words build bridges into unexplored

regions.” •“The man who has no sense of history, is

like a man who has no ears or eyes.”

Citation•“Jesse Owens and the 1936 Berlin

Olympics.”German-Way.com. Hyde Flippo, 1997. Web. 27 Mar.2012.