London 2012 Olympics: true origin of torch relay is Nazi Germany not Ancient Greece
Amid all the talk of honouring inspirational people and showcasing the best of Britain, the announcement of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay route was conspicuously short on historical background.
That is understandable since the ritual that has become such a key part of the Olympic Games was actually the invention of the Nazis in 1936 to enhance the international reputation of the Third Reich.
The popular belief is that the relay, which begins with a flame being lit by a mirror held up to the sun at the Temple of Hera in Greece, is a throwback to the ancient Games in Olympia. Not so.
Although there is evidence that a flame burned on the alter of the goddess Hestia throughout the Games, the idea of ferrying it from one relay runner to another from Greece to the host city was dreamt up by Carl Diem, secretary general of the Berlin Olympic organising committee.
The idea was seized upon by the Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, as an ideal way to publicise German power and dynamism while presenting a friendly face to the world.
It also fitted with Adolf Hitler’s belief that ancient Greece was an Aryan precursor of the Third Reich.
In a classic piece of revisionism, the Berlin organising committee chairman, Theodor Lewald, said the Olympic torch created “a real and spiritual bond between our German fatherland and the sacred places of Greece founded nearly 4,000 years ago by Nordic immigrants”.
Unlike the system of public nominations for the relay runners who will carry the touch in the run-up to London 2012, most of the 3,331 runners in 1936 were young men hand-picked for their Aryan looks.
The torches were made by the German company, Krupp, better known for manufacturing armaments during the Second World War.
The route of the relay from Greece to Germany was carefully orchestrated and, with the benefit of hindsight, proved a shocking blueprint for the subsequent Nazi domination of Europe as it weaved its way through Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia.
The political purpose was particularly evident as the torch passed through Vienna, where it was greeted by shouts of “Heil Hitler!” by a crowd of 10,000 Austrian Nazis.
The whole process, culminating in the lighting of the touch in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, was captured by the German film-maker Leni Riefenstahl in her famous propaganda film, Olympia – with a bit of artistic licence.
For the first leg of the relay, the torch was carried by a local Greek runner, Constantine Condylis, but Riefenstahl was unhappy with his appearance. The sequence was re-shot using the fourth runner – a handsome 19 year-old. To cement the links with antiquity, he was filmed running naked, just like the athletes of the ancient Games.
Despite its dark origins, the idea of an Olympic Torch Relay was deemed a good enough one to be continued by the London 1948 Olympic organising committee, led by Lord Burghley, and since then it has become an integral part of every summer and winter Games.
But its use for political purposes was revived three years ago when the organisers of the Beijing Olympics controversially decided to route the 2008 relay through Tibet, provoking worldwide
The International Olympic Committee acted by banning international relays and restricting them to the host country, which explains why London’s 70-day celebration will be confined to the
United Kingdom, with a possible extra stop in Dublin.
Despite its dodgy past, the relay promises to be a memorable experience for the 8,000 runners lucky enough to take part. But don’t mention the war.
London 2012 Olympics: presence of returning drug cheats means we may have to suspend disbelief at Games
July 9th, 2012 16:02
London 2012 Olympics: Lord Coe backs 18-year-old Adam Gemili to run 100 metres at Games
June 22nd, 2012 14:41
London 2012 Olympics: Aaron Cook legal challenge would be a nightmare scenario for BOA
June 14th, 2012 19:52
London 2012 Olympics: British Olympic Association got wrestling selection for Team GB badly wrong
June 1st, 2012 18:14
London 2012 Olympics: telling young girls they are fat has no place in a modern, sophisticated sport
May 25th, 2012 17:04