When General Charles H. Sherrill, member of the International Olympic Committee, says Helene Mayer can participate in the 1936 Olympic games for Germany whether she is a citizen or not, he contradicts the International Olympic Statutes, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency established today.
An examination of the volume of Protocols of the International Olympic Federation disclosed the following under “General Rules Applying to the Celebration of the Olympic Games, Article II, Necessary Conditions for Representing a Country.”
“Only those who are nationals or naturalized subjects of a country or of a state which is part of that country are able to represent that country in the Olympic Games.”
The new legislation passed by the Reichstag at Nuremberg Sept. 15 bars Jews from German citizenship.
Miss Mayer is a “non-Aryan” ineligible for German citizenship. As such and in the light of the international Olympic Statutes, it would appear that Miss Mayer is not eligible to represent Germany in the games.
Another statement of Gen. Sherrill’s which was checked as one he made to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency interviewer to the effect that a decision of the Amateur Athletic Union to boycott the games would have no effect on American participation.
At the office of the A.A.U., the J.T.A. was told that the union is the governing body in nine major sports. Olympic statutes provide that an athlete, to compete in a sport, must have the certification of the governing body in that sport, countersigned by the American Olympic Committee.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
