The 2016 Summer Olympics, beginning in August, marks the 80th anniversary of the historic Olympic Games of 1936. Hosted in Berlin, the 1936 Olympics were used by Adolf Hitler's Nazi dictatorship to promote Germany as strong and united while masking the regime's antisemitic and racist policies.
In protest of Germany's treatment of Jewish athletes, the 1936 Olympics were the first ever to be threatened with an international boycott and set an important precedent for using the Olympics to call attention to contemporary human rights abuses in Olympic host countries.
Learn about the human impact of the 1936 Olympics, and the larger historic and contemporary contexts with the following resources.
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Who is Margaret Lambert?
Born in Laupheim, Germany, Lambert was ranked one of the four best high jumpers in the world, but she was barred from competing in the 1936 Olympics. Learn how one educator in New York shares Margaret's story with his students.
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Resources from Echoes and Reflections
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Lesson 2: Antisemitism
This lesson provides an opportunity for students to learn about prewar Jewish life in Germany, antisemitism in Nazi racial ideology, and its similarities and differences from pre-Nazi antisemitism. Students will examine propaganda methods that were used to exploit antisemitic attitudes among the German people and to create an atmosphere of terror.
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Lesson 3: Nazi Germany
This lesson provides context and background about the Weimar Republic's fragile democracy between 1918 and 1933. Examine the historical events that led to the breakdown of that democracy and the unfolding of anti-Jewish policies.
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View all summer PD opportunities here
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Athletes and Activism
This lesson from the Anti-Defamation League, provides an opportunity for high school students to learn more about and reflect upon athletes who have taken stands on political and social justice issues.
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1936 Olympics: Race, Politics & Civil Rights
In this IWitness activity from USC Shoah Foundation, learn about Jesse Owens, African-American track and field athlete who won a record-breaking four gold medals in Berlin.
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Teaching about the Holocaust Using Sports
This Educator Video Toolbox from Yad Vashem presents Margaret Lambert's story as a way to teach about the Holocaust through the theme of sports, and highlights the challenges and hardships Jewish athletes faced under the Nazi regime.
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