Germany was awarded the honor of hosting the Olympic Games in 1931 when the Nazi era was still an unforeseeable nightmare. Upon coming to power, Hitler and his propaganda machine decided to turn the Games into an showcase of unprecedented proportions for their regime. A new 100,000 seat stadium was erected. With characteristic obsession for ceremonial pomp and symbolism, the Nazi organizers introduced the first torch relay. Three thousand runners carried the Olympic flame from Olympia to Berlin. Not a single nation boycotted the 1936 Games. Unfortunately the statement by Joseph Goebbel, Hitler's infamous propaganda chief, that the Games success equaled the work of four army divisions, was not far from the truth.