The official online fan shop of the Olympic Games has been selling T-shirts with designs from the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936, which were used by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis for propaganda. There are calls in Germany for the sale of the shirts to be stopped, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has defended it as being part of its Heritage Collection, celebrating styles from all editions of the Games. The T-shirts, which are emblazoned with the original poster design for the Berlin Olympics by Franz Würbel, are currently out of stock. The 1936 Games were used by Hitler as a chance to promote his ideals of racial supremacy and to glorify Nazi Germany on an international stage.
Klara Schedlich, a spokesperson for sports policy with the Green Party in Berlin, accused the IOC of not reflecting sufficiently on its own history. She described the imagery as problematic and unsuitable for a T-shirt without context. The IOC acknowledged the historical issues surrounding Nazi propaganda while also noting that the Games featured 4,483 athletes from 49 countries competing.
A spokesperson from the IOC stated, 'We made an Olympic Heritage Collection available to the public that celebrates 130 years of Olympic art and design...' They highlighted the achievements of athletes like Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in the 1936 Games, challenging the Nazi ideology. The Olympic Museum in Lausanne provides historical context for the Berlin Games, where only a limited number of T-shirts were produced.
Klara Schedlich, a spokesperson for sports policy with the Green Party in Berlin, accused the IOC of not reflecting sufficiently on its own history. She described the imagery as problematic and unsuitable for a T-shirt without context. The IOC acknowledged the historical issues surrounding Nazi propaganda while also noting that the Games featured 4,483 athletes from 49 countries competing.
A spokesperson from the IOC stated, 'We made an Olympic Heritage Collection available to the public that celebrates 130 years of Olympic art and design...' They highlighted the achievements of athletes like Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in the 1936 Games, challenging the Nazi ideology. The Olympic Museum in Lausanne provides historical context for the Berlin Games, where only a limited number of T-shirts were produced.
