Goebbels greatest challenge - came with the Olympics in Berlin in 1936. Many were opposed to hosting the Olympics Games in Berlin, but Goebbels promised Hitler it would be an amazing propaganda opportunity to showcase Germany both domestically and internationally. Goebbels and Hitler also believed that the games would demonstrate their doctrine that the Aryan race was superior to all others.

Goebbels had a new 100,000 seated stadium built for the games
He brought in television cameras for the first time and other technological equipment
There were guests and competitors from over 49 countries
Those attending were struck by the fanatical devotion to Hitler from the clear presence of the army and SS
Germany came top of the medal table
However, to Goebbels and Hitler's dismay, a black athlete, Jesse Owens, became the star of the games
Owens won four gold medals and broke two world records
While ten black members of the America team won 13 medals between them
This defied everything the Nazis were teaching about Aryan superiority
Propaganda was evident to foreign visitors and it backfired on the Nazi regime

Picture below shows Jesse Owens standing on podium one after winning gold

	Created by Andrew Burke over 7 years ago

Hitler believed massively in the power and importance of propaganda. As part of our study series on Germany and the Nazi's, we explore the elements of the Nazi propaganda machine in this learning note.

Nazi Germany Propaganda, Culture and Mass Media