The Berlin Olympics 1936 Nazi propaganda took care to detail the preparation and conduct of this event. Every action movie or video should tend towards a single purpose: prove the supremacy of the Aryan race. This competition was an opportunity for the Fuhrer to show the world the power, the force, but mostly the rebirth of the German nation. The Director of the event was entrusted to Director Leni Riefenstahl, already the author of two propaganda films on nazionalsocialimo: the task of Leni was to capture the best shots German athletes, highlighting their athleticism, their strength, their beauty, their spirit ariano, how nature had shaped the bodies of these athletes making them perfect. Like the ancient Spartans fighters the Germans were ready to fight to win, both in sports and military. Meanwhile, Europe still remained watching thinking to have the international situation under control and not intervening against the despotic assertion of national socialism, but rather trying to exploit it in their favor against Russian power. European counterpart was a strongman immobilism, ready to climb power at any cost, German icon, a demigod: Adolf Hitler. Even the prestigious magazine journalism “Times” will recognize this statuts the Fuhrer dedicating the cover of 1938.
In the Olympics of 1936 where German athletes are the strongest in various disciplines, where everything is organized to enhance their supremacy, something happens that no one would ever expect and that provoked that gesture of anger of the Fuhrer immortalized on camera. It happened that an American boy of color, Jesse Owens, won four gold medals: the 100 meters, the men's long jump, the 200 meters, the relay 4×100 meters.
An athlete of color had won major competitions of the Olympic Games, an athlete of color had climbed on the highest step of the podium with heads held high, leaving his opponent German second place, an athlete of color had competed and won against racism a whole Stadium, of an entire society enhanced of aryanism. Jesse Owens has shown how the theory of the superiority of the Aryan race touted by national socialism was absurd and without any basis.
Today, in contemporary times, We are witnessing new phenomena of antisemitism, of racial discrimination, by claiming to defend borders without reminding us that there are no races, they are a mental construction of man but there is a human being, that this land has been given to us by nature without boundaries and always on this earth we are guests.
Today we need more Jesse Owens, We need more people who boldly and head-on remind us that we are all living beings, All Men alike.
Roberto
