United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936
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Race Hygiene
German sports imagery in the 1930s promoted the myth of "Aryan" racial superiority and physical power. Artists idealized athletes' well-developed muscle tone and heroic strength and accentuated so-called Aryan facial features -- blue eyes and blond hair. Such imagery also reflected the importance the Nazi regime placed on physical fitness.

The September 1936 issue of the Nazi anthropological and genetics journal <i>Volk und Rasse</i> (Folk and Race) links race, physical strength, and Olympic competition.
The September 1936 issue of the Nazi anthropological and genetics journal Volk und Rasse (Folk and Race) links race, physical strength, and Olympic competition.
—USHMM #14935/Courtesy of Leo Baeck Institute
This poster announces a regional Nazi Party festival of physical fitness in Leipzig. July 1935.
This poster announces a regional Nazi Party festival of physical fitness in Leipzig. July 1935.
—USHMM #21748/Library of Congress, Washington, DC

The Museum’s exhibitions are supported by the Lester Robbins and Sheila Johnson Robbins Traveling and Special Exhibitions Fund, established in 1990.