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By order of
the Ministry of Propaganda, prompted by the upcoming Winter Olympics
in Germany, "Jews Not Welcome" signs on main streets
vanished quietly. This was one of the measures that Nazi agencies
adopted to improve Germany’s image in the eyes of the outside
world as the Olympics approached. This measure, like others that
sought to restrain anti-Jewish activity to some extent, created the
feeling that the anti-Jewish policy had eased. Indeed, many
observers-Jewish and non-Jewish, German and non-German-"took
the bait" and believed that the Nazis’ anti-Jewish spree had
peaked and was petering out. Thus, the Nazis enhanced their image
considerably; many foreign visitors and journalists returned to
their home countries with a feeling that the complaints about the
condition of German Jewry had been overstated. Importantly, however,
the easing of policy was temporary and for outside consumption only.
Some of the most crucial decisions concerning the Jews, such as the
Four-Year Plan, were made by the Nazis soon thereafter-1936, the
Olympic year.
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