Hitler & Nazi Germany… These are the last things that one would associate with the Olympic Games and the torch relay that began them. However, the connection that exists goes much further than most realize.
The original concept of fire possessing some divine power comes from the Greek’s legend of Prometheus, which says that he stole fire from the Gods and brought it to earth. In their beginning, the Olympic Games honored the Greek God Zeus. The Greeks also had an eternal flame that rested in Olympia. When the games were being celebrated, additional fires would be lit around Greece, but there was no actual relay. It wasn’t until 1936, when the games were held in Berlin, that the concept of a relay beforehand took place.
The Nazis were masters at creating publicity and instilling national pride. Through the use of his propaganda, Hitler popularized the idea of spiriting the Olympic torch to the main stadium of where the games were being held. A twelve day run opened the Berlin games of 1936, and it has become a tradition ever since. Beyond that, it was also Hitler and the Nazis who branded the Olympics with its five interlocking rings logo. Although the logo initially appeared in the early 1920’s, it wasn’t used for very long. A German film that documented the 1936 games of Berlin used the symbol and presented it as the original logo, which had existed for hundreds of years. It remains the symbol for the Olympics today and once again, the Nazis are the ones to thank for it.
Curious to know what others thought of this, I went out and interviewed one of the torchbearers for this year’s Games in Vancouver. Andre Gagne, a Torontonian with no previous experience or direct exposure to the Olympic Games, was kind enough to give me a few of his thoughts. Andre was nominated by Coca Cola to run the torch into Toronto. Although extremely active in his personal life, he is not a professional athlete. Andre is an executive for the grocery store chain of Metro.
Before being chosen as a torchbearer, the only exposure he’d had to the Olympics was having watched it on television and attending the 1976 games in Montreal. Aware of the relay’s past, Andre had this to say: “The Olympic movement simply took a lesson from the masters about how to generate public interest and engagement. It does not mean the torch relay symbolizes Nazism. The Olympics are about furthering the cause of human understanding and cooperation through elite athletic competition, despite the huge commercial venture that comes with it.” I’d have to agree with Andre.
Who cares if the idea of the relay and the logo came out of Nazi-era Germany? Although Hitler saw the relay as a perfect way to illustrate his belief that classical Greece was an Aryan forerunner of the modern German Reich, and wanted to restrict the right to be a torchbearer to his Aryan race, that isn’t at all the case today. Andre again was able to put my mind to rest when I informed him of this by telling me another story from his relay experience: “The personal stories of why people were there to be part of the relay were truly inspiring. For example, General Motors, one of the main sponsors of the Games this year nominated some of its autoworkers that had recently been laid off. Others diagnosed with terminal illnesses were there as well to run the torch and take part in the games and celebrations. ”
I think that’s a perfect example of how positive the idea of the relay is today and a clear message of why changing any of it is not necessary.
