The Dark Origins of Olympic Torch
- 12 years ago
The Dark Origins of Olympic Torch - as part of the news and politics series by GeoBeats.
Most of us imagine the Olympic torch ceremony as an ancient Greek tradition representing Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus to bring to the humans. But did you know that the relay ceremony was reimagined and instituted by the Nazis as a form of nationalist propaganda? The current tradition of an Olympic torch relay, started during the Olympics of 1936 hosted in Berlin, Germany by the Nazi regime.
Using the torch relay from Greece to Germany, Hitler wanted to convey a connection between the Aryan nation that he was trying to build and the ancient Aryans of Greece while also physically displaying the Reich’s growing geographic power and influence. The original torch relay race was even reenacted for a Nazi propaganda film.
There have since been several protests relating to the ceremony because of its controversial ties to Hitler and the Nazis. During the 1956 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, the ceremonial torch was replaced by flaming underwear inside of a metal can atop a chair leg. The fake torch was passed to the mayor of Sydney before anyone realized the prank. The security around the torchbearers has been increased since this incident.
Most of us imagine the Olympic torch ceremony as an ancient Greek tradition representing Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus to bring to the humans. But did you know that the relay ceremony was reimagined and instituted by the Nazis as a form of nationalist propaganda? The current tradition of an Olympic torch relay, started during the Olympics of 1936 hosted in Berlin, Germany by the Nazi regime.
Using the torch relay from Greece to Germany, Hitler wanted to convey a connection between the Aryan nation that he was trying to build and the ancient Aryans of Greece while also physically displaying the Reich’s growing geographic power and influence. The original torch relay race was even reenacted for a Nazi propaganda film.
There have since been several protests relating to the ceremony because of its controversial ties to Hitler and the Nazis. During the 1956 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, the ceremonial torch was replaced by flaming underwear inside of a metal can atop a chair leg. The fake torch was passed to the mayor of Sydney before anyone realized the prank. The security around the torchbearers has been increased since this incident.