We are in the middle of the UEFA European Championship, and I thought it would be a good idea to look at some European footballers who were murdered during the Holocaust.
György Szeder, born György Silberstein, this left winger used a different name to disguise his Jewish identity. He was just 19 when he joined FC Barcelona from Soroksár, but struggled to adapt and only played five games. He returned to Hungary, where he would tragically die at the hands of the Nazi invaders in 1945, on the very day after Hitler committed suicide.
György Silberstein was born on February 23, 1914, in Cinkota, a small town on the outskirts of Budapest. At the beginning of the 20th century, Hungary was one of the countries with the largest Jewish community in Europe. In the 1920s, his family adopted the pseudonym Szeder to hide his Jewish origin due to the rise of anti-Semitic ideologies.
The Silbersteins, now the Szeders, were a very athletic family. György’s sister, Olga, was a great swimmer who won several swimming competitions. He, for his part, chose football. György played for the local Cinkota team until he signed for Soroksár. In the 1933-1934 season, the team surprised everyone by reaching the final of the Hungarian Cup against BKV Előre SC. György Szeder, just 19 years old, scored the winning goal, making it 2-0. This would be the only title he would obtain in his sports career.
His great participation in this match caused Ferenc Plattkó, FC Barcelona coach at the time, to hear about the young Hungarian and become interested in him. In this way, on October 10, 1934, György Szeder debuted with the Barça shirt in a friendly against Espanyol. In total, he played one official match and four friendlies, but some legal problems with the Hungarian Federation caused the player to have to return to his country.
György Szeder continued playing football in his country until 1944. That same year, with the unilateral peace negotiation between the Hungarian president and the allies, Hitler decided to occupy Hungary and began a mass deportation of the Jewish community. The Szeders and more than half a million families were transferred to various concentration camps.
On May 1, 1945, when Soviet troops were already entering Berlin, György Szeder, aged 31, died in the Birnbaum Concentration Camp in Poland. Just one day later, on May 2, 1945, the Allies liberated the survivors of the camp. This is not the only theory that exists about György’s death. Other information states that the player was liberated by the Allies but that he was killed by a landmine explosion on his way home.
Józef Klotz was a notable Polish footballer known for his achievements in the early 20th century. He was born on January 2, 1900, in Kraków, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time.
He played as a defender and midfielder. He is best remembered for scoring the first-ever goal for the Polish national football team in an official international match, which was scored on May 28, 1922, in a match against Sweden.
During his club career, Klotz played for various teams, including Jutrzenka Kraków, a club that was popular among the Jewish community in Poland. Klotz’s contribution to Polish football, particularly his historic goal, is remembered as a significant milestone in the country’s sporting history. His life came to a tragic end during World War II. As a Jew, he became a victim of the Holocaust. He was murdered in 1941 in the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazi regime.
Leon Sperling (born August 7, 1900 in Krakow, died between December 15 and 20, 1941 in Lwow), Jewish footballer of Polish nationality. A team mate of Jozef Klotz
He was a football forward, playing on the left wing. Sperling represented Cracovia, the team he led in 1921, 1930, and 1932 to the Championship of Poland.[6] He also played in 16 games for the Poland National Team, including Poland’s lone game at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.[8][9][10] He was regarded as a highly-skilled dribbler. He also coached in Lviv. Sperling is one of Cracovia Kraków’s legends.
Sperling was shot to death by the Nazis in the Lwów Ghetto in December 1941.
Árpád Weisz was a Hungarian football player and coach who made significant contributions to the sport in Europe. He was born on April 16,1896.
As well as Hungary, Árpád Weisz also played for Czechoslovakia and Italy. He was part of the Hungarian squad in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. A severe injury later cut short his playing career, but he continued as a coach. This promising career as a player was ended because of an injury in 1926. He spent a year in South America before returning to Italy as manager of Inter Milan. He proved to be one of the great managers. He won league titles with Inter in 1930 and with Bologna in 1936 and 1937.
In the previous eight years, he had won three Scudetti and, just a year earlier, had beaten Chelsea in Paris, winning the equivalent of today’s Champions League.
Still only 41 years old, Weisz Árpád seemed destined for even greater achievements. But in 1938, Mussolini’s Fascist regime followed Hitler’s lead and introduced the Italian Racial Laws. Weisz finished his career by coaching Dordrecht in the Netherlands, leaving in 1940 following the outbreak of the Second World War.
Four years later, he was arrested by the SS and murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz Concentration Camp, with his family of four (including his wife Elena, his son Roberto, and his daughter Clara) when they were gassed immediately upon arriving at Birkenau.
Alfred Dünmann, commonly known as Fritz Dünmann, was an Austrian footballer who played as a striker. From 1906 to 1907, he played in three matches for the Austrian national football team.
Dünmann was born in Vienna on December 8, 1884. He played as a striker for Rapid Wien and for the Austria national team, earning three caps from 1906 to 1907 and scoring two goals. Being a Jew, Dünmann was deported to Dachau Concentration Camp after the November pogrom in 1938 but was released and went into exile in France. However, he was imprisoned again in 1941 and was deported via various intermediate camps to Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was eventually murdered on June 5, 1942.
All of these men had a significant impact on European football, but that meant little to the Nazi regime.
Sources
https://monterrassa.cat/es/deportes/futbol-es/gyorgy-silberstein-futbolista-barca-holocausto-359563/
https://players.fcbarcelona.com/en/player/862-szeder-gyorgy-szeder
http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/krakow/krkw_pages/krkw_stories_sperling.html
https://www.meinbezirk.at/hietzing/c-lokales/ein-stein-zum-ewigen-gedenken_a4574867
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