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Despite controversy in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics, international participation in the Games is robust. A few athletes have stayed home to avoid contracting Zika, and a large segment of the Russian team has been banned for doping violations, but no country has withdrawn its entire team.

Eighty years ago, participation in the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, was much less certain. The International Olympic Committee awarded the Games to Berlin in 1931, two years before the Nazi Party came to power in Germany. Hosting the games provided the Nazi government the...