AHC: IOC plays better poker in '36, [highlights Nazi rearmament,shorter war?] , prevents Holocaust?

One of the key aspects of the Nazi's rise to power was the acceptance by the Heer that the Nazis were beneficial for Germany. Once the Armed Forces began to swear the "Hitler Oath", the matter became more complicated. The Heer felt they were compelled to be loyal to Hitler as a person, beyond the office of Chancellor and outside the Constitution if necessary.
Thanks for the info.

I'm wondering if the Heer could have flashed the ace without playing it? Could have let the Nazis know, Hey, if you go forward with this, there are going to be problems. I think the Nazis did back down at times, with the plan of later pursuing the same issue.

And, at this point, I think I've mistitled this whole thread. Probably should have titled it something like, What if IOC had underscored March '36 rearmament of Rhineland? Well, two pages into it, too late now, but will learn for next time.

--> Went ahead and added [highlights Nazi rearmament,shorter war?] to title.
 
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I wish avoiding the Holocaust could be easily done with such a late POD, but tragically, I'm so not sure it can-Hitler's burning hatred for the Jewish people went all the way back to his rejection from that art college in Vienna, about 20 years before.....and was a central theme in Mein Kampf.

Not really. His anti-semitism was rooted in the mistaken belief that the Jews secretly controlled the top of human society (i.e. the politicians and the bankers) and were part of an international conspiracy to loot non-Jews, esp. the Germans, of their wealth through such concepts such as capitalism and communism.

Hitler didn't hate the Judaic peoples becuase he got rejected from art school. He hated them because he believed that they were a "parasitical people" who ran an Illuminati like organization.
 
kind of makes it worse.

A lot of people in general, throughout human history, have believed in various conspiracy theory horseshit. Is 'paranoid style' a good shorthand for people more prone to this?

* frankly, kind of think it's a shame the rules don't allow us to dive in there and discuss the details of various conspiracy theories here at alt history. Might almost act as inoculation.

Is it perhaps useful to tell true believers that, Most of our problems are institutional, not conspiratorial, this might work as well as anything else? Meaning it has perhaps a 1 in 10 chance of getting the person to at least start questioning their closed system mindset a little.
 
The ultimate threat is taking the Olympics away from Germany. If that happens Germans are bombarded with "yet another example of the Jewish conspiracy against Germany", "another stab in the back by the Jews", etc etc. IMHO this does not make things better for German Jews or Jews in Nazi occupied areas during WWII, it might even make it worse.

This would require ASB intervention IMHO. As an example, Avery Brundage, the head of the USOC, was a pretty solid antisemite himself. He did everything possible to ensure the number of Jews (and blacks) on the US Olympic team were as close to zero as possible. If he could have he would have kept Jesse Owens from going. A large number of the countries going to the olympics were also quite on board with minimizing the number of Jews.

Berlin itself was "cleaned up" of most of the most overt anti-Jewish actions or symbols. Outside of Berlin, things went on pretty much as before, there may have been a reduction in the number of window smashings and beatings by the SA but not so sure.
I agree, if the IOC talks about how Jewish athletes have to be given an equal chance to compete and then ends up cancelling the Olympics, then majorly Jews will be blamed.

That's why I've kind of shifted my focus to the Nazi party's March 7, 1936, rearmament of the Rhineland.
 
I just don't see how the 1936 Olympics can affect the Holocaust in every way, except maybe if the Nazis let their ideology get the best of them and commit some atrocities against the Jews on the streets before the games begin.
 
but the counterfactual where the IOC votes to cancel the Games, the League of Nations follows this example and also takes public action regarding Nazi rearmament,

as a result of this attention, citizens in France and Britain are in favor of more military preparedness,

and maybe an earlier and shorter war, say from '38 to '41, in which Germany still loses!
 
And I did not know that the 1936 Winter Olympics were also held in Germany:

https://books.google.com/books?id=e-SvBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq="the+games+in+Garmisch-Partenkirchen+were+a+fascist+show"&source=bl&ots=fMF-qZzinF&sig=Uibni9MkTfraNM8vPEXdrHXHyUs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwik7JyX1-nOAhVU_mMKHZvkCVwQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q="the games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen were a fascist show"&f=false

" . . . February 1936, . . . "

" . . . Fourth Olympic Winter Games . . . "

" . . . the games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen were a fascist show. Regular army soldiers were constantly parading through town. Black-shirted members of the SS were the Olympic security force [Emphasis added]. . . William L. Shirer were among the journalists who lamented the situation. . . "
One, it sounds like the Nazis learned from their mistakes for Berlin.

But a different, better IOC? ? Not so knee-jerk against another even vaguely "political." (Shades of Star Trek and the prime directive) Once the ball gets rolling with earlier public condemnation of Nazi militarism . . .
 

Deleted member 94680

So, in this timeline, the IOC's actions are symptomatic of a more general Western 'harder' attitude to the Nazis?

In itself, taking the Olympics from Germany wouldn't have an effect on the Holocaust - as other users have pointed out. Combined with a unified opposition of the Major Western Powers, the situation would be entirely different.
 
So, in this timeline, the IOC's actions are symptomatic of a more general Western 'harder' attitude to the Nazis?
Yes, IOC action as a both a cause and an effect of greater French, UK, and American response to Nazi rearmament. And perhaps other allies as well (Poland? Norway?) which could lead to some interesting PODs.

And all this is a counterfactual. For Henri Baillet-Latour, head of IOC, well, frankly it sounds like the guy was a real bastard. He successful orchestrated the IOC expelling a member in July '36 who had advocated for a boycott and replacing this guy with Avery Brundage. And maybe we make Brundage too much a cardboard character, but I think it's safe to say he didn't exactly effectively push for positive change. So, in a different timeline, maybe Henri Baillet-Latour saves someone from drowning five years earlier or is himself saved from drowning and this makes him a different man?
 
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Deleted member 94680

... So, in a different timeline, maybe Henri Baillet-Latour saves someone from drowning five years earlier or is himself saved from drowning and this makes him a different man?

Well Baillet-Latour was Belgian, so plenty of opportunity to generate anti-German feelings with a suitable POD. War experience in WWI for example?
 
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