Start of the Olympic Games in Berlin

Source: HW Visitors flocking to the opening ceremony through the eastern gate of the olympic stadium in Berlin

On 1 August 1936 Adolf Hitler opens the XIth Olympic Summer Games in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. With a massive propaganda display the National Socialists attempt to improve their negative image for foreign visitors and the international press. For this purpose all indications of any persecution of Jews in Germany are banned from public life for the duration of the competition. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl produces two films, „Festival of Beauty“ and „Festival of the Peoples“, which document the games attended by three million and held in the Nazis’ typical bombastic style.