The Champion with a Marked Identity
At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a moment froze history: fencer Helene Mayer, silver medalist, raised her arm in a Nazi salute. Unlike other German athletes, Mayer was of Jewish descent—her father was Jewish, and her heritage was officially recorded as “Israelitischen.”
A Star Athlete, Then Exiled
Born in 1910, Mayer won her first national title at 13. By 17, she claimed Olympic gold in 1928. She moved to the U.S. in 1932, but in 1933 her German fencing club expelled her under Nazi race laws. In 1935, she lost her German citizenship under the Nuremberg Laws.
Recruited to Serve a Regime
Despite Nazi bans on Jewish athletes, pressure from the U.S. Olympic Committee led to Mayer’s inclusion as a token gesture. Ignored by German media, she competed—and saluted—under the swastika. Historians believe she may have done so to protect her family still in Germany.
A Final Return
After the Games, Mayer returned to the U.S., became a citizen in 1940, and later moved back to Germany. She died of cancer in 1953. Her Olympic salute remains one of the most controversial moments in sports history.
At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, fencer Helene Mayer stunned the world. A silver medalist, she raised her arm in a Nazi salute.
What shocked many was that Mayer, born to a Jewish father, had been stripped of her citizenship just a year earlier by Nazi laws…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/og1iNFINvd
— Detective Tiger's Stories (@TigerDetective) April 25, 2025