I saw this and thought of you.... BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Things We Forgot to Remember, Series 6, Jesse Owens and the Nazi Olympics Michael Portillo revisits great moments of history to discover that they often conceal other events of equal, but forgotten, importance. This week he looks at forgotten aspects of the 1936 Berlin Olympics . Did Adolf Hitler really snub Jesse Owens after the American athlete won an unprecedented four gold medals ? What have we forgotten about the efforts made in Britain and the United States to boycott the Games and why weren't those efforts successful ? And what do the Games tell us about the uneasy relationship between sport and politics in the years before the outbreak of war. Producer:Joanne Cayford.
Interesting story here. BBC Radio 2 - The Ballads of the Games, Berlin, Nie Wieder (Gretel's Song) Nie Wieder (Gretel's Song) Duration: 08:42 Written by Julie Matthews and sung by Chris While, Nie Wieder (Gretel's Song) tells the story of Gretel Bergmann, the high jumper dropped from Germany's 1936 Olympic team for being Jewish. Known as Margaret Lambert for the past 72 years, the 98-year-old now lives in New York, where her interview was recorded. She remembers how she was led to believe she would be part of the German high jump team, having been courted by the Nazis to prove their policies weren't anti-Semitic. But, as soon as the threat of an American boycott of the Berlin Games had been lifted, she was cast aside. At the time she held the German record for the high jump and was disgusted to be told she wasn't good enough. But she agrees that taking part would have been difficult, had she won gold, and been forced to give the Nazi salute to a leader who had already begun exterminating Jews. 30 of her husband's immediate family later died in the gas chambers. Her story inspired songwriter Julie Matthews to write this song. The Ballads Of The Games is a six-part series which re-visits events from Olympics history through eye-witness accounts and new songs. You can hear it on BBC Radio 2, Mondays, 10-11pm, 2 July to 6 August. Also heard a trailer on Radio2 about this program where they mention the 20 German athletes from the team who died fighting in WW2.
I don't think there was a snub by Hitler - he wasn't supposed to present medals etc. Although he probably would have snubbed Owens et al given the chance.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25189860 Jesse Owens 1936 Berlin Olympics gold medal goes on auction
