Winter Olympics Series Episode II - Rudi Ball, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936

The IOC have made a lot of questionable decisions through the years, and continue to do so to this very day, but few stand out more sharply than the awarding of both the 1936 Winter and Summer Olympics to Nazi Germany.

While the 1936 Summer games are very fairly given their spot in history thanks to Jesse Owens four gold medals righteously spitting into the face of white supremacism, the 1936 Winter games that preceded it are less well remembered.

In episode 2 of our 10 episode series, we look back at these games and discuss the backdrop and apathy of other nations as Germany ramped up their antisemitism and cultural exclusion, and discuss the story of Rudi Ball, the only German Jewish athlete who competed at the games, at the will of Joseph Goebbels and Nazi propaganda.

Archive footage of the USA vs. Germany match in 1936:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_o5MVCrMww