Branson West Heritage Museum features historic 1936 Olympics

The controversial 1936 Berlin Olympics, often referred to as the Nazi or Hitler Olympics, are the focus of a new exhibit at the Faith, Family & Country Heritage Museum in Branson West.

To exercise political control over its citizens, and to prepare German youth for war, the Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler harnessed sports as part of its drive to strengthen the "Aryan race.” The non-Aryans—including Jewish or part-Jewish and Gypsy athletes—were systematically excluded from German sports facilities and associations. They were allowed only marginal training facilities, and their opportunities to compete were limited.

Many protests were held against the 1936 Olympics being held in Berlin, but in the end the Nazi regime was able to convince the world to allow the Berlin Olympics to go ahead, despite the widespread knowledge that Nazi Germany was a police state. For two weeks in August 1936, Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels directed an astonishing “fake news” effort.

While organizing groundbreaking TV and radio broadcasting of the Games, he also ordered a coverup of anti-Semitic slogans from Jewish shops, moved "undesirables" out of Berlin, and toned down the racist Nazi newspaper coverage. Hiding their anti-Semitism and plans for territorial expansion, the Nazis exploited the Olympic ideal, dazzling visiting spectators and journalists alike with an image of a tolerant country. Thousands of foreigners went away wondering why the Hitler regime had been vilified, unaware that not far from the stunning Olympic Stadium lay a concentration camp full of “enemies of the state.”

The museum exhibit also examines a number of the athletes who participated in the 1936 games, including Americans Jesse Owens, Helen Stephens and Louis Zamperini. Nicknamed the “Fulton Flash” after her birthplace of Fulton, Missouri, Helen Stephens won gold medals in the 100 and 4 x 100 relay.

While Owens was the star of the Games, winning four gold medals, Zamperini, a 19-year-old Californian, impressed many with his late surge to finished eighth in the 1,500-meter race. It was his amazing story of survival in World War II, however, that launched Zamperini into legendary status, inspiring the 2014 movie “Unbroken.”

A major controversy involved the benching of two American Jewish runners, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller. Both had trained for the 4 x 100-meter relay, but on the day before the event, they were replaced by Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe, the team's two fastest sprinters. Glickman, who died in 2001, believed that Coach Dean Cromwell and IOC member Avery Brundage were motivated by antisemitism and the desire to spare the Führer the embarrassing sight of two American Jews on the winning podium.

The museum in Branson West features an artifact directly connected to the 4 x 100 relay. While the U.S.A. sprinters, led by Owens and Metcalfe, won the gold in that race, the team from Italy finished second for the silver medal. Running the anchor leg for the Italian team that day, was Tullio Gonnelli.

Museum curator and historian Jim Zbick recently obtained the race bib number, 354, worn in the race by the Italian sprinter. Gonnelli immigrated to Springfield, Massachusetts, 18 years after the Olympics, where he lived until his death at the age of 92. The fabric, which carries the stamp of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, was obtained from the Olympian’s son, Paul Gonnelli, who now resides in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

“To have anything related to the 1936 games—let alone the 4 x 100 relay—is quite amazing, not only for its Olympics relevance, but for its importance on the stage of world history,” Zbick stated.

The exhibit is available for public viewing during regular museum hours, Sunday through Friday 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and is located at 15025 Business Hwy. 13, Branson West. Two documentaries on the 1936 Games, “The Jesse Owens Story” and “The Nazi Games,” can also be viewed at the museum.

Olympic experience was a big deal

Tullio Gonnelli was a sprinter who ran the anchor leg in the 4 x 100 relay race for the Italian team that finished second to the U.S.A. at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Tullio’s son, Paul, who now resides in Florida, shared a flashback his father had later in life while watching a video of the race decades earlier.——-    

“One moment sticks out in my mind when it comes to my dad and his Olympic experience. First off, I have to start by saying my dad, who didn’t come to this country until he was about 43 years old, didn’t talk much about his life in Italy or his Olympic experience to our family. Not really sure why. Maybe that was a part of him and his life that he just wanted to keep to himself.    

“Anyway, one night we were all watching TV. It was me, my brother, my mom and dad. We were watching a documentary about Jesse Owens and the 1936 Olympics. When it came to show the 4 x 100 meter relay my dad perked up. I don’t think we had seen that documentary before.    

“When it got to the part where they showed my dad, he jumped off the couch, on his knees right up against the TV and was shouting ‘look at me’ while he was cheering himself on. Wow, I had never seen him that excited before. He must have been in his 80s at the time. I’ll never forget it and at that point I realized how big of a deal his Olympic experience was. Just wished he shared more of it with us.”

- Paul Gonnelli