Olympic oaks explained

The Olympic oaks, informally called Hitler oaks, are English oak trees that were given to gold medal winners of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. 130 gold medals and trees, which were year-old saplings, were awarded. Several have survived.

Germany

While the largest number of oaks were given to German athletes, who won the most medals, many are said to be planted near the stadium, though no record was kept, and they would be difficult to identify among the many oaks in the vicinity.

New Zealand

• Jack Lovelock's tree is at Timaru Boys' High School.^[1]

South Korea

• Sohn Kee-chung's tree is at his memorial hall, Malli-dong, Seoul.

Sweden

• Ivar Johansson's tree is in Folkparken, Norrköping. The tree was first planted in Johansson's private garden, but in 1960 it was donated to the city of Norrköping.

United Kingdom

• The sapling presented to Jack Beresford was planted in the grounds of Bedford School.^[2] It was removed many years later when building work was undertaken. The wood was used to make presentation shields for the rowing club.^[3]
• Harold Whitlock's sapling was presented to Hendon School. It was removed due to fungal disease in July 2007.^[4]
• Christopher Boardman's oak was planted in How Hill, Norfolk but was eventually killed by honey fungus. In early 2017 the remaining stump was carved into a sailing boat and Olympic rings.^[5]

United States

• Jesse Owens won four gold medals and received four trees. One tree was planted at James Rhodes High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Another may have been planted at Ohio State University.^[6]
• As of 2022, Cornelius Johnson's tree was still standing in the yard of his childhood home in Koreatown, Los Angeles.^{[7] [8]}
• John Woodruff (Connellsville, Pennsylvania) was the first African American to win gold in the 1936 Olympics (800 Meters). He brought his oak home to Connellsville and planted it in the northwest corner of the High School Stadium (Campbell Field) in Connellsville where it was still standing as of 2022.^[9]

• Ken Carpenter was a student at the University of Southern California (USC). His Olympic Oak was planted on the main USC campus where it grows behind Bovard Auditorium.^{[10] [11]}

See also

• Forest swastikas, arboreal relics of Nazi Germany

External links

• Film of Jack Lovelock's race and presentation with the Lovelock Oak

Notes and References

1. Web site: Timaru's Jack Lovelock oak inspires photo exhibition of others gifted by Adolf Hitler. Holden. Joanne. 2 April 2018. stuff.co.nz. en. 2019-10-08.
2. Book: The Counties of Bedford and Huntingdon. Arthur Mee. The King's England. 23. January 1951. April 1939.
3. Web site: Greg Denieffe: 'Hitler Oaks'. Hear The Boat Sing. 21 April 2012 . 2017-09-25.
4. News: Hitler's Olympic oak gift to Briton axed | UK news. The Observer. 19 August 2007 . 2017-09-19 . Smith . David . Radford . Peter .
5. Web site: History . 2022-06-10 . How Hill Trust . en-GB.
6. Web site: Jesse Owens' Tree from Hitler in Cleveland | Scene and Heard: Scene's News Blog. Vince Grzegorek. clevescene.com. 2017-09-25.
7. Web site: To protect and preserve a tree rooted in Games. Crowe. Jerry. 2007-08-20. Los Angeles Times. en-US. 2019-10-08.
8. News: Arango . Tim . 2022-05-28 . In Los Angeles, a Tree With Stories to Tell . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-05-28 . 0362-4331.
9. Web site: 75 years later, Connellsville still celebrating Woodruff's legend TribLIVE.com. archive.triblive.com. 2019-10-08.
10. News: Crowe . Jerry . To protect and preserve a tree rooted in Games . 26 April 2024 . Los Angeles Times . August 20, 2007.
11. Web site: Kragen . Aubrey . Olympic Oaks . USC Trojans . 26 April 2024.