When an attempted boycott failed, how many countries participated in the Olympics in Berlin, Germany in 1936?

Despite the exclusionary principles of the 1936 Olympics Games, a total of 49 countries still participated. Over a two week period, the Olympic Games were a show of Nazi propaganda. Germany tried to promote an image of a new, strong, and united Germany while masking the Nazi regime’s targeting of Jews and Roma (Gypsies).

In April 1933, an “Aryans only” policy had been instituted in all German athletic organizations. “Non-Aryans” - Jews or individuals with Jewish parents and Roma (Gypsies) - were systematically excluded from German sports facilities and associations. There were a few exceptions to this policy, but just a few.

It was the first time that an attempt was made to organize a boycott of the games because of the exclusion of certain athletes based on their heritage. The attempt narrowly failed, when 49 nations ended up sending their athletes, legitimizing Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s regime, both in the eyes of the world and of the German domestic audiences.

Most tourists were unaware that the Nazi regimes had temporarily removed anti-Jewish signs, nor would they have known of a police roundup of Roma in Berlin, ordered by the German Ministry of the Interior.

With the conclusion of the games, Germany’s expansionist policies and the persecution of Jews and other “enemies of the state” accelerated, culminating in WWII and the Holocaust.