A gold medal won at Hitler’s infamous 1936 Summer Olympics sold for $25,000 (£19.5k) on Thursday, July 20.
The award was notable as it went to an Indian hockey team member, challenging the führer’s Aryan supremacy ideal.
Peter Paul Fernandes won the medal after playing a crucial role in the team’s triumph over the German squad in the final.
His win, along with USA track and field star Jesse Owen’s four golds at the event, was not in line with Hitler’s wish to promote his government and racial ideals.
The Indian team entered the medal rounds as overwhelming favorites and they did not disappoint, crushing France (10-0) and Germany (8-1) to claim their straight gold medal finish.
“The gold medal awarded to Peter Paul Fernandes at the 1936 Berlin Games is one of the most important symbols of debunking Hitler’s notions of Aryan supremacy,” said Robert Livingston, Executive Vice President at Boston-based RR Auction.
“Second only to Jesse Owens and the USA track team, the underdog India field hockey team humiliated the Germans in the gold medal game by a score of 8 to 1.”
Fernandes became the first Goan in Olympic history to win a gold medal when he competed on the British Indian team as a left-sided forward.
The victory coincided with ​​India’s historic three-decade run of thirty straight Olympic match victories, which culminated in six straight gold medals before they lost their first match in the final of the Rome 1960 Games.
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