Shirts have sold out; Olympic committee acknowledges ‘Nazi propaganda’ at the games but says the ‘historical context is further explained’ at Switzerland museum.
The governing body for the Olympics is defending its sale of a limited-edition T-shirt commemorating the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin under Adolf Hitler’s Germany.
The $42 shirt, which was condemned by Jewish organizations, has already sold out from the official Olympics online store.
Another item based on an Olympics event overseen by the Nazis, a T-shirt commemorating the 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, was also being sold through the collection.
That poster shows a victorious skier with an arm upraised in what could be a Nazi salute and was designed by Ludwig Hohlwein, a leading artist in Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda division.
The Heritage collection also sold a T-shirt bedecked with a poster from the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, during which the entire Israeli athletic delegation was taken hostage and killed by the Palestinian terror group Black September. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has reached out to the IOC for further comment about the shirt, which is also marked as sold out.
