David Large (MSU photo by Carol Flaherty)

The Olympics are barely over in Athens, but David Large is already preparing for the 2008 games in Beijing.

No, the veteran runner of 36 marathons doesn't hope to compete in China.

Instead, the 59-year-old history professor at Montana State University is scouring archives from California to Europe to find out more about the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany. Large said the 1936 experience raises questions about holding the Olympics in another country with a militarized government, one-party state, and poor record on human rights. His book on the 1936 games and concerns about Olympic politics has already been accepted for publication by W.W. Norton. The book is expected to be released in 2006.

"There will be a lot of comparisons between Beijing and Berlin. China, like Germany, is an authoritarian country," Large said. "Both countries, in many ways, violate the spirit of the Olympic Charter."

Controversy arose when Beijing was awarded the games. The same thing happened in the 1930s. Large said. In 1931, before Hitler became leader of the Nazis, the 1936 summer Olympics were awarded to Berlin. The 1936 winter games were awarded to Garmisch, Germany after Hitler came into power.

"The question was, once Hitler came to power in 1933, should the international committee keep the games in Germany or move them to someplace else?" Large said. "There was an enormous effort, an international effort to get the international committee to move the games away from Berlin, but it failed. The games went on as scheduled."

China is not the same as Nazi Germany, Large said. But if his book raises unpleasant issues, that's OK with him.

"I hope it does," Large said. "I hope it raises questions about the politics of the Olympics. I think the Olympics are extremely political."

The Olympics were designed to be contests between individuals instead of countries, Large said. That's why games are awarded to cities instead of countries. Commercialism and nationalism were to have no part in the games.

"There has always been a huge divergence between the ideals and the reality of the Olympics," Large said.

However, Germany in 1936 was the ultimate corrupter of the Olympic principles and brought nationalism to a new peak, he said. Besides Hitler's policies in his country, he didn't want blacks to compete in the Olympics. He introduced traditions that were designed to associate Germany with the original games. The Nazis -- not the ancient Greeks -- originated the torch run, Olympic flame, laurel wreaths for the winners and the Olympic bell, Large said.

"Germany regarded themselves as the true heirs of the ancient games," Large said. "So in '36, when they staged the games, they tried to emulate as much as possible the ancient games. Some of it was simply invented because no one knew what was going on in the ancient games."

Large's research has taken him to archives that were closed until the reunification of Germany. Some records were opened because the legal limit on their closure has passed. As a result, the German-speaking Large has read letters written by members of the International Olympic Committee in the 1930s. They are full of racist comments, Large said. He has discovered that many of the IOC members during the 1930s believed in the Nazis and fought for the games to remain in Germany. Avery Brundage, head of the American Olympic Committee, sympathized with the Nazis and made sure the United States sent its team to Berlin.

Large will head to Berlin on Sept. 16 to continue his research. His work is funded by a Research & Creativity Grant from MSU, an advance from the book publisher, and the German Academic Exchange Service.

"Based on Professor Large's previous research, there is absolutely no doubt that this will be a significant and path-breaking book," said Robert Rydell, head of the Department of History and Philosophy at MSU. "Scholars and the general public will find Professor Large's insights reflective of the Nazi political and cultural dynamics."

Posted by Evelyn Boswell for 9/7/04