Árpád Weisz

Árpád Weisz (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈaːrpaːd ˈvɛis]; also spelt Veisz; 16 April 1896 – 31 January 1944) was a Hungarian Olympic football player and manager. Weisz was Jewish,[4][2] and was killed with his wife and children by the Nazis during the Holocaust in World War II at Auschwitz.[5]

Árpád Weisz
Personal information
Full name Árpád Weisz
Date of birth (1896-04-16)16 April 1896
Place of birth Solt, Austria–Hungary
Date of death 31 January 1944(1944-01-31) (aged 47)
Place of death Auschwitz-Birkenau, Germany
Position(s) Left winger[1][2]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1922–1923 Törekvés SE ? (?)
1923–1924 Makabi Brno ? (?)
1924–1925 Alessandria 6 (1)
1925–1926 Internazionale[3] 10 (3)
National team
1922–1923 Hungary 7 (0)
Teams managed
1926–1928 Internazionale
1929–1931 Internazionale
1931–1932 Bari
1932–1934 Internazionale
1934–1935 Novara
1935–1938 Bologna
1938–1940 Dordrecht
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Playing career

Weisz played club football as a left winger in Hungary for Törekvés SE,[2] in Czechoslovakia for Makabi Brno, and in Italy for Alessandria and Internazionale.[6]

Weisz earned seven international caps between 1922 and 1923, and was a member of the Hungarian squad at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.[6] A serious injury cut short his playing career.[1]

Coaching career

After retiring as a player in 1926, Weisz became an assistant coach at Alessandria before moving to F.C. Internazionale Milano, where at the age of 34 he won one championship in the 1929–1930 season.[7][2][8] Weisz had three separate spells as manager of Inter, 1926–28, 1929–31, and 1932–34, managing Giuseppe Meazza among his players. He also coached Bari, Novara and Bologna, where he won two league titles (in 1936 and 1937) before he was forced to flee Italy with his wife and two children following the enactment of the Italian Racial Laws.[9][10][11] Weisz finished his career by coaching FC Dordrecht in the Netherlands,[10] leaving in 1940 following the outbreak of the Second World War.[6]

Four years later he was arrested by the SS and killed 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 entering Birkenau.[8][5]

Legacy

In January 2020, Chelsea FC unveiled a mural by Solomon Souza on an outside wall of the West Stand at Stamford Bridge stadium. The mural is part of Chelsea's 'Say No to Antisemitism' campaign funded by club owner Roman Abramovich. Included on the mural are depictions of footballers Julius Hirsch and Weisz, who were killed at Auschwitz concentration camp, and Ron Jones, a British prisoner of war known as the 'Goalkeeper of Auschwitz'.[12]

References
  1. Costantino, Sostene (27 February 2018). "Arpad Weisz: the Auschwitz victim who helped shape the idea of modern football". These Football Times. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  2. Bolchover, David (18 May 2017). The Greatest Comeback: From Genocide To Football Glory: The Story of Béla Guttman. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781785902642 – via Google Books.
  3. "Arpad Weisz | Players | F.C. Internazionale | inter.it". FC Internazionale - Inter Milan.
  4. http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/111381/italy-rediscovers-a-hero-football-lost-shoah
  5. Grunwald-Spier, Agnes (7 January 2016). Who Betrayed the Jews?: The Realities of Nazi Persecution in the Holocaust. The History Press. ISBN 9780750958011 – via Google Books.
  6. "Remembering the remarkable Arpad Weisz". Eurosport. 15 January 2013.
  7. "Remembering the cream of Jewish footballing talent killed in the Holocaust". The Guardian. 6 May 2019.
  8. "Who was Arpad Weisz?". Inter Official Site.
  9. "Bologna pay tribute to Holocaust victim Arpad Weisz | Paddy Agnew". 30 January 2018.
  10. Bliss, Dominic (1 December 2014). "Erbstein: the triumph and tragedy of football's forgotten pioneer". Blizzard Media Ltd – via Google Books.
  11. Hooper, John (8 September 2015). The Italians. Penguin. ISBN 9780525428077 – via Google Books.
  12. "Chelsea unveils mural with Jewish soccer players murdered at Auschwitz". The Jerusalem Post.
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