Berlin was voted to host the 1931 Olympic games. In 1933 the Nazi party came to power (Grannan, n.d.). After this many Western countries wanted to boycott the Olympics. This is because they were appalled by the racist policies and human rights violations of the Germans. 49 countries were still participating in the Berlin Olympics. This was the largest number of countries to ever participate in the Olympic Games at that time. The Nazis spent $162.4 million to build a 325-acre Olympic sports complex (The History Place, 2001). It was located five miles west of Berlin. The centerpiece of the Olympic complex was a stadium capable of seating 110,000 people. It was the largest stadium in the world. The president of the German Olympic Committee was expelled after it was discovered that his grandmother was Jewish. He was replaced by a man named Hans von Tschammer und Osten (The History Place, 2001). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay He established the “Aryans Only” policy in choosing German Olympic athletes. Some of the Jews who were not allowed to participate were world-class athletes. Most of them and other Jewish athletes left Germany to continue their careers elsewhere. The Nazis also did not allow gypsies to participate, including their champion boxer Johann Trollmann. These bans have been condemned internationally as violating the Olympic code of equality and fairness (The History Place, 2001). The Olympics were supposed to be an exercise in goodwill among all nations, emphasizing racial equality in sporting competitions. The Nazis, however, had no interest in promoting racial equality and instead hoped to use the Olympics to showcase Aryan athletes, who they believed were naturally superior due to their race (The History Place, 2001). The Nazi attitude led to international calls for a boycott of the Berlin Games. There were also calls to move the games to another country. For many American critics of Hitler's regime, the banning of Jews from the German Olympic team was the straw that broke the camel's back. The American Olympic Committee was led by former US Olympic athlete Avery Brundage, who initially supported the idea of ​​a boycott of the Berlin Olympics (The History Place, 2001). The Nazis attempted to smooth things over by inviting Brundage to Germany and taking him to see special training courses supposedly set up for Jews in Germany. Brundage was impressed by what he saw and the very special VIP treatment given to him by the Nazis. As a result, Brundage returned to America and announced on September 26, 1934 that the American Olympic Committee had officially accepted the invitation to participate in the Berlin Olympics (The History Place, 2001). waved. Its leader, Jeremiah Mahoney, declared that American participation in the Berlin Games meant nothing more than giving American moral and financial support to the Nazi regime, which opposes everything Americans deem important. Mahoney was supported in his position by various American Jewish and Christian leaders, along with liberal politicians such as New York Governor Al Smith. 41 college presidents also expressed support for the boycott. Furthermore, American labor leaders supported the Olympic boycott and pushed for a complete economic boycott of Nazi Germany. They were strongly anti-Hitler due to the Nazis' orderly split of the German trade unions. In response to growing international pressure, the Nazis made a symbolic gesture by allowing, 2001).