By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
It has been reported that there have been calls in Germany for sales by the IOC of T-shirts with designs from the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936, which were used by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to promote his ideals of racial supremacy and to glorify Nazi Germany on an international stage.
The T-Shirts, which are part of the Olympic Heritage Collection celebrating 130 years of Olympic art and design, show a male figure wearing a laurel wreath. Over his head are the Olympic rings. Underneath him is the Brandenburg Gate and the words "Germany Berlin 1936 Olympic Games".
Klara Schedlich, the spokesperson for sports policy for the Green Party faction in the Berlin House of Representatives, accused the IOC of "clearly not reflecting sufficiently on its own history" and added that "the choice of image is problematic and unsuitable for a T-shirt."
In response, the IOC remarked that whilst it "of course acknowledges the historical issues of Nazi propaganda" it also wanted to remember that the Berlin 1936 Games saw "4,483 athletes from 49 countries compete in 149 medal events."
Also, it has been pointed out that the historical context of the Berlin Games is explained at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, and only a limited number of the T-Shirts has been produced and sold.
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