Fussball unterm Hakenkreuz
der DFB zwischen Sport, Politik und Kommerz
Description:... Discusses the role of the Deutscher Fussball-Bund in the Third Reich and its attitude toward Nazism. Argues that, due to political indecisiveness of the DFB, before the rise of the Nazi regime there was no affinity of the organization to Nazism or fascism, and its later attitude was affected by the international economic depression, which endangered its existence. The DFB's aspirations to power and prosperity determined its attitude toward Jews, who were gradually excluded from the organization, a process which was slowed down only by the Olympic Games of 1936. From the beginning, the Nazi regime exploited football in general and the DFB specifically for political and propaganda purposes. Concudes that both sportsmen and artists in the 20th century, with their irresponsible convention of living in a world apart, were highly susceptible to totalitarian regimes. Thus, whereas there is always a political aspect to football, in this case the DFB was not political enough to resist cooperation with the Nazi power.
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