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1936 'Nazi' Games T-shirt sales cause stir but IOC says it must protect trademark

On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee listed a 1936 Berlin Olympics T‑shirt on its official online shop that sold out within hours, citing trademark protection.
Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime used the 1936 Games as a propaganda showcase promoting Aryan superiority while excluding Jewish athletes and targeting the 800 Roma in Berlin.
The shirt reproduces Franz Wurbel's original 1936 poster showing a laurel‑crowned male figure, Olympic rings, Brandenburg Gate, and lists event dates Aug. 1‑16, 1936, priced at $47.
Holocaust remembrance organisations and German media condemned the sale and some called for it to be stopped, while the IOC said the Olympic Museum in Lausanne explains the historical context within its Heritage Collection.
Beyond the sale, experts asked whether aesthetic appreciation of the Games can be separated from the horror that followed, amid a rise in antisemitism and broader concerns about history manipulation, Holocaust advocacy groups said.

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