Munich's Nazi Documentation Centre hosts live podcast on grandfather's role in the 1936 Olympics

The NS-Dokumentationszentrum München (Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism), at Max-Mannheimer-Platz 1, is hosting a live recording of Bavarian Broadcasting's (BR) podcast "The Decision" on Tuesday 15 September at 7pm. The evening is titled "My grandad, the Nazis and the Olympics".

The new series of the podcast looks at the Olympic Games that Adolf Hitler opened in August 1936, a huge propaganda spectacle for the National Socialists. It was made possible by a fateful decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to keep the Games in Berlin, in a country that was already setting up concentration camps and systematically excluding Jewish athletes.

The series approaches the subject through a very personal story. The grandfather of BR journalist and historian Astrid Freyeisen trained the rowing four that won Olympic gold in Berlin. Like so many people in Germany, he never wanted to talk later about the "brown", or Nazi, side of the competition or about his service to the Nazi regime. Freyeisen is examining this history together with young female rowers who now train at her grandfather's club.

At the event, Freyeisen's research will be presented as a live podcast with host Jasmin Brock. The evening will offer reflections on the responsibility of sport, on remembrance culture for a new generation and on how families talk about the Nazi past. Franziska Ott will accompany the evening on trumpet.

Admission is free and no registration is required. The centre is fully accessible, and further information is available at nsdoku.de/programm.