Sport under the Nazis: ideology and propaganda

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What significance did sport have for the Nazis?

Sport played an important role for the National Socialists, although they did not speak of sport, but of physical education. Their primary goal was to promote health and performance for a productive national economy and ultimately to be fit for war.

Individual sport was relegated to the background in favor of the collective, the masses, the so-called 'national body', to which every German should contribute as an individual in the best possible way. True to Nazi ideology, it was always about strength and fortitude.

"The weak must be hammered away," begins a quote attributed to Adolf Hitler. "In my Ordensburg [educational facilities for the Nazi elite], a youth will grow up that will terrify the world. I want a violent, imperious, fearless, cruel youth. (...) I will have them trained in all physical exercises."

These physical exercises were therefore compulsory in many of the Nazi mass organizations, such as the Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ), the Hitler Youth (HJ), the League of German Girls (BDM) or Strength Through Joy (KdF). It was also recommended to become a member of a sports club.

In the Hitler Youth, but also in school sports, physical exercise was used to teach boys about being a solider and military behavior, and to filter out young people who could later be considered for a leadership positions in the Wehrmacht [armed forces].

The Nazis were critical of international competitive sport, especially in its early phase, during the Weimar Republic. "Internationality, the Olympic movement, togetherness, international understanding, that was ideologically rejected," historian Ansgar Molzberger from the German Sport University Cologne told DW.

Why did the Nazis still organize the Olympic Games in 1936?

In 1931, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the Olympic Games to Berlin during the days of the Weimar Republic. The Nazis, who came to power in the interim, however, were overt opponents of the Olympic movement.

The cosmopolitan idea of the Olympic Games was incompatible with their world view. Sporting competitions with members of the 'enemy nations' from the First World War went against their sense of honor, and they rejected the IOC regulations on racial grounds.

However, those in power quickly realized - especially Hitler - what an opportunity the Games offered to present themselves to the world as a peace-loving, open, young state.

"There was a breathtaking turnaround," says historian Molzberger. "Just as the Olympic movement, with its ideals of international understanding, had been strictly rejected until the end of the Weimar era, they now presented themselves as great supporters of the Olympic movement."

They also wanted to use the Games to demonstrate their own strengths of good organization and sporting success.

Adolf Hitler at the opening of the Olympic Games

Were there any sports that were particularly promoted under the Nazis?

"One sport that can be emphasized in the context of school was boxing, which the National Socialists made compulsory for older boys," says Molzberger. "Everyone had to learn to box in school sports."

Team sports such as football and handball still existed, but the idea of fighting was always emphasized. "It was about fighting back, daring to do something together," says Molzberger. "This was a repeated point of emphasis in team sports."

What did physical exercise look like for women and girls?

Sporting activities for women were also strongly influenced by ideology. Women were primarily limited to their role as mothers and housewives. In order to fulfill these roles well, they were also expected to train their bodies, improve their health and fitness and strengthen their discipline.

The League of German Girls (BDM), in which girls between the ages of ten and 18 were organized, also offered physical exercises intended to train them not only physically but also ideologically and prepare them for their future role in society.

Were Jews allowed to continue playing sports?

Shortly after the seizure of power, a law was passed on April 7, 1933, according to which civil servants and public employees had to be of Aryan descent, otherwise they were no longer allowed to work in the civil service.

This so-called "Aryan paragraph" was gradually extended to oust Jews from professional and social life, including doctors, students and radio stations, the press, theaters, other cultural institutions and associations.

In principle, the paragraph also applied to sports clubs, but in view of the upcoming Olympic Games, the Reich leadership initially did not consistently demand its implementation. They did not want to make negative headlines before the 1936 Games and provide reasons for a possible withdrawal from or boycott of the Olympics. Nevertheless, there was criticism and calls for a boycott did follow. They intensified once again after the Nuremberg Race Laws were passed in 1935, which later formed the legal basis for the persecution and extermination of the Jews.

USA Los Angeles 1999 | Exhibition of the Nuremberg Race Laws

Nevertheless, many sports clubs and associations whose leaders were particularly convinced by the ideas of National Socialism implemented the Aryan Paragraph early on of their own accord and in anticipatory obedience. For example, the German Gymnastics Association, the largest German sports association at the time with 1.5 million members, excluded Jews just one day after the law was passed.

Other associations, such as the swimming, rowing and skiing associations, followed suit. The German Football Association (DFB) reacted less radically and continued to allow Jews to play. However, they were no longer allowed to hold leadership positions in soccer clubs. One prominent example is Kurt Landauer, who was club president of Bayern Munich for many years during the Weimar period and had to give up his position in 1933.

As a result of the exclusions, purely Jewish sports clubs experienced a real boom between 1933 and 1936, with a large increase in membership. Once the 1936 Olympic Games were over, however, the situation for Jews in Germany worsened.

"After the games, the mask could be dropped," says historian Ansgar Molzberger. "When the actual persecution of Jews began in 1938, Jewish sport was also systematically destroyed."

This article was adapted from German.

Edited by: Matt Pearson

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