James Jesse Owens (1913-80) had a very modest start in life. Born to Alabama share-croppers and the grandson of slaves, Owens grew up quickly. In May 1935 in Ann Arbor Michigan, Owens equalled or broke 4 world records: 100 yards, long jump, 220 yards and 220 yards hurdles.
A year later, in Aug 1936, he won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics: 100 metres, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay. Amazing!
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Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler and German officials
observe the Olympic Games in Berlin, August 1936.
HistoryNet
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Jesse Owens superb athleticism
100 metres, Berlin
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Luz Long's superb athleticism
Long Jump, Berlin
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Luz Long and Jesse Owens
cooling down after the long jump
Conclusion All Olympians absolutely want to win their events, but because Hitler insisted German athletes were members of a Master Race, German nationalism ran even higher in 1936. Thus Black athletes were competing in a very threatening setting in Berlin, where Hitler and Goebbels were rousing hysterical levels of patriotism.
To maintain a peak of achievement in such an ugly moral environment was a mark of Jesse Owens's courage and athletic brilliance. To befriend a black athlete in the huge Berlin stadium was a mark of Luz Long’s courage and compassionate humanity.
Did Owens deliver a lasting blow to the confidence of Third Reich's ideology? Of course not .
A year later, in Aug 1936, he won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics: 100 metres, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay. Amazing!
observe the Olympic Games in Berlin, August 1936.
HistoryNet
When Owens arrived in Berlin in July 1936, the German press featured the rise of Das Negerfest in American sport; they attributed Owens' speed and jumping prowess to animal qualities. Albert Speer, Germany's war armaments minister wrote that Hitler was annoyed by Owens' presence: People whose antecedents came from the jungle were primitive; their physiques were stronger than those of civilised whites and hence should be excluded from future Games.
The reaction was much the same in the Berlin Stadium in Aug 1936, when Owens was doing very well. Up in his box in the main stand, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler loathed the graceful style and sublime body as Owens easily won the men's 100 metres. But all around the vast arena, waving swastika banners, 110,000 spectators were mesmerised.
See Owens' long jump victory in Olympia, the film made by German director Leni Riefenstahl, intended to offer enduring proof of Aryan superiority. Or better still, my evidence comes from the BBC film Jesse Owens: The Olympics' Most Powerful Icon, 2012.
Note that Berlin had already modernised for the Games with racist graffiti taken down and Fascist publications removed from newsstands. Hitler had already passed the Citizenship Laws, stripping Jews of their nationality. But the Führer wanted to maximise the Berlin Games as a propaganda exercise for Nazism, covering over their brutal excesses.
Of course the German press glorified the victory won by heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling against the undefeated American Joe Louis in New York, just before the opening of the Games. It was hailed as a triumph of the Aryan super race. German magazines said Schmeling clearly demonstrated the superiority of white intelligence.
Despite personally congratulating two German gold medallists and a Finnish winner on the opening day of competition, Hitler left the stadium immediately after Owens' black team-mate Cornelius Johnson won the high jump. There were no official invitations to Hitler's box after that, the Führer saying that Americans should be ashamed of themselves for letting their medals be won by a Neger.
Every day Owens got a standing ovation from the multitude of Germans who loved his athletic ability. But a bigger surprise was to come. Owens fouled his first two attempts in the long jump qualifying round and faced being eliminated! His German competitor Luz Long, Owen’s strongest long jump rival, advised Owens (in English) how to adjust the run-up in the qualifying round and for Owens to get into the final. The German looked like a tall, blond model of Aryan manhood, something the two athletes joked about.
In the final, Luz Long’s last jump created great jubilation for the ordinary viewers, and for Hitler, Goebbels, Goering, Hess and Himmler. But Owens re-established his superiority with his last jump. Hitler jumped up and left the stadium.
Neither was the Führer present when Long took the silver medal behind Owens. The two athletes walked around the entire oval together, arms around each other. As a symbol of sport being a celebration of our common humanity, Owens’ relationship with the man who finished as silver medallist could hardly be bettered.
Owens' final gold medal occurred by accident. The two Jewish athletes in the US relay team, Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman, were dropped at the Germans’ insistence. Apparently the US Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage had agreed to throw the American Jews out, to avoid exacerbating the Führer's feelings. Putting black athletes into the relay team was offensive to the Nazis, but less offensive than maintaining the two Jewish athletes.
After Owens’ successes in Berlin, he faced the sobering reality of a life back home where black people had to ride at the back of the bus and were banned from white restaurants. And President Roosevelt gave no White House reception for this US Olympian star. Apparently Roosevelt was scared of a backlash from southern voters.
Two weeks after the Games, Owens was banned by the American Amateur Athletic Union for returning home instead of joining the US team on an extended European tour. As a result he was virtually unemployable in the USA, so he was forced to race against horses and to work as a playground supervisor.
Owens and Long’s warm friendship via letters lasted until the middle of WW2. Long died in a military hospital after being fatally wounded in battle in 1943, fighting for Germany.
Owens died of lung cancer March 1980, aged 66. But the friendship between the two families still continues.
The reaction was much the same in the Berlin Stadium in Aug 1936, when Owens was doing very well. Up in his box in the main stand, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler loathed the graceful style and sublime body as Owens easily won the men's 100 metres. But all around the vast arena, waving swastika banners, 110,000 spectators were mesmerised.
See Owens' long jump victory in Olympia, the film made by German director Leni Riefenstahl, intended to offer enduring proof of Aryan superiority. Or better still, my evidence comes from the BBC film Jesse Owens: The Olympics' Most Powerful Icon, 2012.
Note that Berlin had already modernised for the Games with racist graffiti taken down and Fascist publications removed from newsstands. Hitler had already passed the Citizenship Laws, stripping Jews of their nationality. But the Führer wanted to maximise the Berlin Games as a propaganda exercise for Nazism, covering over their brutal excesses.
Of course the German press glorified the victory won by heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling against the undefeated American Joe Louis in New York, just before the opening of the Games. It was hailed as a triumph of the Aryan super race. German magazines said Schmeling clearly demonstrated the superiority of white intelligence.
Despite personally congratulating two German gold medallists and a Finnish winner on the opening day of competition, Hitler left the stadium immediately after Owens' black team-mate Cornelius Johnson won the high jump. There were no official invitations to Hitler's box after that, the Führer saying that Americans should be ashamed of themselves for letting their medals be won by a Neger.
Every day Owens got a standing ovation from the multitude of Germans who loved his athletic ability. But a bigger surprise was to come. Owens fouled his first two attempts in the long jump qualifying round and faced being eliminated! His German competitor Luz Long, Owen’s strongest long jump rival, advised Owens (in English) how to adjust the run-up in the qualifying round and for Owens to get into the final. The German looked like a tall, blond model of Aryan manhood, something the two athletes joked about.
In the final, Luz Long’s last jump created great jubilation for the ordinary viewers, and for Hitler, Goebbels, Goering, Hess and Himmler. But Owens re-established his superiority with his last jump. Hitler jumped up and left the stadium.
Neither was the Führer present when Long took the silver medal behind Owens. The two athletes walked around the entire oval together, arms around each other. As a symbol of sport being a celebration of our common humanity, Owens’ relationship with the man who finished as silver medallist could hardly be bettered.
Owens' final gold medal occurred by accident. The two Jewish athletes in the US relay team, Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman, were dropped at the Germans’ insistence. Apparently the US Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage had agreed to throw the American Jews out, to avoid exacerbating the Führer's feelings. Putting black athletes into the relay team was offensive to the Nazis, but less offensive than maintaining the two Jewish athletes.
After Owens’ successes in Berlin, he faced the sobering reality of a life back home where black people had to ride at the back of the bus and were banned from white restaurants. And President Roosevelt gave no White House reception for this US Olympian star. Apparently Roosevelt was scared of a backlash from southern voters.
Two weeks after the Games, Owens was banned by the American Amateur Athletic Union for returning home instead of joining the US team on an extended European tour. As a result he was virtually unemployable in the USA, so he was forced to race against horses and to work as a playground supervisor.
Owens and Long’s warm friendship via letters lasted until the middle of WW2. Long died in a military hospital after being fatally wounded in battle in 1943, fighting for Germany.
Owens died of lung cancer March 1980, aged 66. But the friendship between the two families still continues.
100 metres, Berlin
Long Jump, Berlin
cooling down after the long jump
Conclusion All Olympians absolutely want to win their events, but because Hitler insisted German athletes were members of a Master Race, German nationalism ran even higher in 1936. Thus Black athletes were competing in a very threatening setting in Berlin, where Hitler and Goebbels were rousing hysterical levels of patriotism.
To maintain a peak of achievement in such an ugly moral environment was a mark of Jesse Owens's courage and athletic brilliance. To befriend a black athlete in the huge Berlin stadium was a mark of Luz Long’s courage and compassionate humanity.
Did Owens deliver a lasting blow to the confidence of Third Reich's ideology? Of course not .