Inciting the masses under national socialism. A sociopsychologic analysis of the "Olympic Youth" festival

On the basis of the festival production "Olympic Youth", Berlin 1936, the author examines the structure of mass stagings in Hitler Germany, the fascination felt by the participants, and the psychologically formative effect underlying the relationship of "leader" to "mass". In this connection, he draws particular attention to the interplay of perfect discipline and unbridled eruption and to the suspension of reality in favor of illusion.