Berlin was the heart of Weimar Germany, and was renowned for being a "happy, clean city" (Large 255.) On May 13, 1931, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) awarded the 1936 Summer Games to Berlin. This was Germany's return to the world after its defeat in the First World War. In 1934, Adolf Hitler became the Fürher of Germany and ruled until 1945. Germany's epicenter had been torn apart by Hitler's unshakable anti-Semitic crusade. This then led to a decrease in Berlin's economic and intellectual sustenance due to the fact that the Jewish population represented its majority. Fights and public disputes were commonplace in the streets of Berlin. On New Year's Eve 1933, a passerby on a bicycle shot dead a seamstress and shouted, "Heil Hitler!" before leaving. The “happy” city of Berlin was in great turmoil. By early 1935, Weimar Berlin had dug itself into a mile-deep hole filled with “cultural corruption and political disorientation” (Large 255). In 1933, the American Amateur Athletic Union was denied a boycott to move the 1936 Games to Rome or Tokyo. This boycott was later deemed “useless,” as soon after the Germans lifted the ban on Jewish athletes from participating in the Games. Joseph Goebbles, Nazi Reich Minister of Propaganda, and the rest of the Nazi regime were enraged that Jewish athletes were allowed to participate because large numbers of Jews flocked from the surrounding provinces. Their fury was kept at bay for image reasons ahead of the next Games. As the 11th Olympics progressed in August 1936, one athlete in particular countered the Nazi racial ideology of Aryan superiority. Jesse Owens, a black American athlete, won four gold medals and established numerous victories...... middle of paper ......nningham, as well as the reception from the German people during his participation at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It deals with the titanic struggle between fascist Nazis and democracy and how politics and sport are inseparable. Walters used Jesse Owens: An American Life by J. William Baker in 1986 and The Berlin Olympics, 1936: Black American Athletes Counter Nazi Propaganda The Berlin Olympics, 1936: Black American Athletes Counter Nazi Propaganda by Franklin Watts in 1975. This source addresses the reaction of the German public to the arrival and performance of Jesse Owens, as well as the Nazis' "non-intervention" attitude towards the monumental feats of Owens. The opinions of both radical Nazis and some neutral onlookers create a comprehensive collection of German reactions in general. Wels, Susan. The Olympic spirit: 100 years of games. Del Mar: Tehabi Books, 1995. Print.