Jewish-American Newspaper's Reaction to American Participation in 1936 Olympics (2014)

Undergraduate: Evan Zeldin

Faculty Advisor: Sherry Salyer
Department: Exercise & Sport Science

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From the research so far, it appears that the editorial reactions from the Jewish papers regarding American participation in the 1936 Olympic Games focused not on the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, but on the debates among Americans and within the American sport organizations concerning participation in the Games. It is clear that the editors of the Jewish papers used in this study were aware of the situation for Jews in Germany. While specific events in Germany such as the passage of the Nuremburg Laws caused the editors of these three Jewish papers to react in uproars, the editorials and letters to the editor focused more on the events themselves and did not relate them to the Games. The strongest editorial reactions in these papers targeted the decisions made by Avery Brundage, the American Olympic Committee, and the Amateur Athletic Union. Editorials were generally published in the weeks leading up to meetings of these organizations and reactions were posted shortly thereafter. In the summer of 1935, reactions to the upcoming meeting started earlier than usual, and editorials were more frequent, most likely due to the realization that this was the last chance to change the course of events.