Deutsches Reich Post Card and Stamps of the IX Olympiad

DEUTSCHES REICH in 1936 issued postal card and stamps marking the XI Olympics. Eight stamps were issued in the Third Reich on 9 May 1936 to publicise  the Summer Olympic Games, which were held in Berlin from 1 though 16 August. Four of those stamps (javelin throwing, torch runner, sculling, soccer), shown here are postmarked Berlin, 7 August 1936. 

Interestingly, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in Germany that year. Commemorative stamps for the Winter events were also issued.

 

On a side note, American sprinter Jesse Owens won four gold medals in this Olympiad. Over the years a story -- a mistaken one -- evolved that Chancellor Adolf  Hitler deliberately avoided acknowledging his victories and refused to shake his hand. However, Jesse Owens reportedly recounted: "When I passed the Chancellor, he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him ..." He also reportedly stated: "Hitler didn't snub me — it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram." Some speculate because it was an election year, FDR didn't want to give the impression he was 'soft' on race relations.

On the whole Hitler was criticised for his reluctance to congratulate non-German winners, and the Olympic committee officials insisted that he greet each and every medalist, or none at all. Consequently Hitler did not attend any of the medal presentations which followed, including those after Jesse Owens won his four medals.

Almost forgotten is fellow American sprinter Ralph Metcalfe who jointly held the world record in the 100-meter dash and placed second in that event in two Olympics, first to Eddie Tolan in 1932 at Los Angeles and then to Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Metcalfe won four Olympic medals and was regarded as the world's fastest human in 1934 and 1935. He later went into politics in the city of Chicago and served in the United States Congress for four terms in the 1970s as a Democrat from Illinois.

One German athlete who Hitler and the Nazis did in fact "snub" was Gretel Bergmann who was the German national record holder in the high jump. She was excluded from the German team because she was Jewish.

American sprinters Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman, the only two Jews on the U.S. Olympic team, were pulled from the 4 × 100 relay team on the day of the competition. It was speculated at the time that the U.S. Olympic Committee chairman (Avery Brundage) did not want to add to the embarrassment of Hitler, by having two Jews win gold medals. Ironically, as it turns out, Owens and Metcalfe replaced them for the 4 x 100 relay.

 

 

The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Three stamps were issued for this Olympiad.