An exhibition in Paris explores the history of race and power at the Olympic Games

PARIS (AP) — The Olympic Games usually are not just an athletic competition but in addition a strong political stage, widely used in the past by totalitarian regimes as a propaganda tool but in addition by athletes as a driving force for change in the fight against racial inequality.

Ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris, an exhibition in the French capital shows that the games have been a “mirror of society” since the early twentieth century.

Historian Paul Dietschy, one of the curators, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that “this exhibition tries to show … this connection between ideology, power and the Olympics.”

The exhibition at the Shoah Memorial in central Paris includes photos, documents and Olympic items, in addition to film archives from the last century. The opening to the public will happen on Friday and will last until mid-November, the organizers say.

In particular, he highlights the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which Nazi Germany used for propaganda purposes; The 1968 Mexico City Olympics, where black sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists to protest racial injustice in the U.S., and the 1972 Munich Olympics, which saw a brutal attack on 11 Israeli team members who were killed by Palestinian fighters.

Dietschy said the exhibition aimed to point out the historical and political significance of the Olympics “through the lives of great stars or champions such as Alfred Nakashe, who was a Jew from Algeria who competed in swimming and who was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp” during World War II. Nakashe competed with the French national team in Berlin in 1936 and at the first post-war Summer Olympics in London in 1948, after surviving the Holocaust.

The exhibition also highlights the stories of athletes who embody Olympic values, corresponding to Jesse Owens, a black US athlete who won 4 Olympic gold medals in Berlin.

Historian Caroline François, one of the curators, emphasized that “The 1936 Games are symbolic of the story of Jesse Owens because he’s each an incredible champion who left his mark on sports history… but in addition because of his personality, his profession , his close connections with German champion Luz Long.”

“Owens embodies the fight against Hitler and Nazi ideology… But he himself was a victim of racism and segregation in the United States,” she said.

The exhibition also raises the issue of the transformation of Olympic stadiums into internment camps during World War II. After the Nazis invaded France in 1940, the country was ruled by a government commonly referred to as Vichy France, which collaborated with Nazi Germany.

The exhibitions include photos of the Vel d’Hiv stadium near Paris, where on July 16–17, 1942, French police rounded up roughly 13,000 people before they were deported to Auschwitz. During the 1924 Paris Olympics, the stadium was used for boxing, wrestling and weightlifting.

International politics is anticipated to be on the agenda again at this yr’s Olympic Games in Paris.

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The International Olympic Committee said earlier this month that Russian and Belarusian athletes wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the traditional opening ceremony parade in the French capital.

Russia and Belarus are barred from participating in team sports at the Olympics because of Moscow’s war with Ukraine, and the IOC has established a two-step process to examine whether individual athletes from those countries will be granted neutral status. These athletes must first be approved by their individual sport’s governing body and then by an IOC-appointed review panel.

Facing the Israel-Hamas war IOC President Thomas Bach recently said that Israel doesn’t face any threat to its Olympic status and added: “Since the shameful attack on the Israeli team (during the 1972 Munich Olympics) Israeli athletes. “

Dietschy stated that recently totalitarian and democratic authorities have been competing with one another, including through sports.

“So the Paris Olympics is a huge moment because we will see whether peace values ​​will be respected,” he said. “We will see if sport can also be a way to spread universal democratic values.”

“The context (now) becomes more tense as war spreads across the world. Maybe the games (in Paris) will bring a moment of peace,” Dietschy said hopefully.