Cor - then again, those uniforms were good though. You couldn't write it better - evil bad guys with nice black uniforms, shiny leather and death's heads everywhere... and they got Hugo Boss thrown in.
On the original point, the whole 'healthy mind, healthy body' bit was a big part of nazi ideology. Look at what happened to people with disabilities, mental or physical.
Looking deeper, the idea behind the get togethers - the sports, gymnastics, dancing, marching, singing - was actually a very good way of getting the nation together as a whole. Some people have commented on it as a type of secular religion, with the nation as the item of worship. It made people feel good, they were able to participate and it engendered a strong sense of nationalism.
Looking at the feel-good factor brought about by England's performance in the world cup, it makes a lot of sense to bring people together around these sorts of event. It also explains why they were so pissed at Jesse Owens. |
