Berlin 1936: Fascism, Fear, and Triumph Set Against Hitler’s Olympics

Author: Oliver Himes

Berlin 1936 takes the reader through the 16 days of the Olympiad, describing the events in the German capital through the eyes of a select cast of characters-—Nazi leaders and foreign diplomats, sportsmen and journalists, writers and socialites, nightclub owners and jazz musicians. The book details the events in the Olympic stadium, such as when an American tourist breaks through the security and manages to kiss Hitler, which provides the focus and much of the drama. But it also considers the lives of ordinary Berliners-—the woman with a dark secret who steps in front of a train, the transsexual waiting for the Gestapo's knock on the door, and the Jewish boy fearing for his future and hoping that Germany loses on the playing field.

During the games, the Nazi dictatorship was in many ways put on hold, and Berlin 1936 offers a last glimpse of the vibrant and diverse life in the German capital in the 1920s and 30s that the Nazis wanted to destroy.

Paperback

320 pages