Jesse Owens, Adolf Hitler and the 1936 Summer Olympics

30 Minute Book Series

By: Doug West

Narrated by: Gregory Diehl

Both Jesse Owens and Adolf Hitler grew up in poverty, and both men struggled to find their footing later in life. Owens represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics, after which he found it difficult to sustain a well-paying job. Adolf Hitler moved to Vienna as a teenager, following his parents' death, but he never found the financial success he so desperately craved as an artist. He spent most of his time in the city a penniless, unemployed young man.

The similarities between the two men end there. While Adolf Hitler became angered and enraged by his circumstances and by the fate of Germany following the First World War, Jesse Owens went out of his way to help people. Even when he faced the cruelty of racism in the United States, Owens saw the best in others. He spent most of his days working with children and teenagers, making a conscious effort to give them the guidance and support they needed to enact positive change in the world. In contrast, Hitler turned to hatred, divisiveness, and conflict in his attempts to change the world in his image.

Owens was an open-minded man who spent his life bettering the lives of his family and the community at large. Even when others asked him to denounce the racist tendencies of Adolf Hitler, he chose to grudgingly respect the German leader. Meanwhile, Hitler's experiences only fueled his hatred of anyone who was not Aryan and German.

In this book we will explore the lives of both men leading up to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Then we will take a closer look at the effects of that summer on the rest of their years.

Welcome to the ninth book in the 30-Minute Book Series. Each book in the series is fast paced, well written, and accurate, covering the story in as much detail as a short book allows. In less than an hour, you can listen to the full book. The text is a perfect companion for your lunch hour or perhaps a nice distraction on your train ride home from work.

©2016 Doug West (P)2016 Doug West

Good Stuff

Well organized for clear comparison
Interesting and Informative on this limited topic. Acknowledges negatives but doesn’t dwell on them.