Why would the IOC make available a T-shirt commemorating Adolf Hitler's Olympics?
- - Why would the IOC make available a T-shirt commemorating Adolf Hitler's Olympics?
Dan WolkenFebruary 17, 2026 at 11:19 AM
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LIVIGNO, Italy — The International Olympic Committee has quietly removed the link to a T-shirt in its online store commemorating the 1936 Berlin Games that were held in Nazi Germany after a controversy bubbled up last weekend about their availability.
The New York Times initially reported that the shirts were sold out, prompting critics to ask why the IOC’s Heritage Collection — which features merchandise with logos from previous Olympic Games — would even carry items that appeal primarily to collectors of Nazi memorabilia.
The IOC is also sold out of a t-shirt with a screen-printed image of a poster from the less-infamous but still problematic 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. That link remains live on the IOC store.
Historians consider both Olympics held in Germany that year to be part of Adolf Hitler’s propaganda effort to normalize the Nazi regime in the eyes of the world. Before the 1936 Winter Olympics, held in February of that year, the Nazis removed antisemitic signs that had become common all over the country to soften their image and ward off any potential boycotts.
The Garmisch-Partenkirchen shirt is notable because it shows the drawing of an unknown athlete wearing a bib with the Olympic rings while holding skis in his left hand and raising his right arm toward the sky, a pose that appears similar to a Nazi salute. The artist who designed that graphic was Ludwig Hohlwein, who worked closely with Joseph Goebbels to create propaganda posters for the Nazis.
(Olympic Games shop)
In a statement to Yahoo Sports, the IOC suggested they are compelled to make this merchandise available to maintain intellectual property rights and trademarks so that they don’t fall into the wrong hands — presumably to bootleg retailers who would then sell the items to Nazi memorabilia collectors.
“The validity of these trademarks depends on their actual use,” the IOC wrote. “If they are not used by their owner, other parties could use them for their purposes.
“As part of this responsibility, the IOC maintains an Olympic Heritage Collection that reflects more than 130 years of Olympic art and design. This collection presents assets such as emblems, pictograms, posters and mascots from every edition of the Games as historical artefacts. Maintaining a use of these historical elements also helps ensure they are not abused. In recent years, this stewardship has enabled the IOC to reduce widespread unauthorized third-party use of 1936 Games related assets.”
However, it’s notable that the Berlin Games shirt is no longer listed among other Heritage Collection items on the IOC’s online store. A search for “Berlin” yields no results, and the shirt that sparked the controversy has been removed entirely — whereas it previously showed up on the site as sold out. Google search results show a link to the shirt, but the link now leads to the generic storefront.
(Olympic Games shop)
A similar search for the Garmisch-Partenkirchen shirt still has a working link to the item with a notation that it is “out of stock.”
Asked if the Berlin shirt no longer appears there because it sold out or was removed as a result of the attention and controversy it generated in recent days, the IOC responded: “As noted in our last email, the limited number of items are sold out.”
As they did before the 1936 Winter Games, the Nazis went to great lengths to cover up their climate of racism and antisemitism before the world came to Berlin in 1936 and some laws were not enforced in hopes of avoiding scrutiny from the international community and media.
It begs the question: Who would be drawn to merchandise recalling those Olympics and why would the IOC even make it available?
“Of course, we recognise the profound historical context surrounding the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games,” the IOC wrote in a statement. “The 1936 Games also brought together 4,483 athletes from 49 countries competing in 149 events and included remarkable sporting achievements — among them those of Jesse Owens — that remain an important part of Olympic history. The broader historical context of these Games is explored in detail at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne."
But a t-shirt shop is not a museum. And there are no t-shirts featuring pictures of Jessie Owens.
Source: “AOL Sports”
