Leon Sperling

Leon Sperling (August 7, 1900 – December 15, 1941) was a Polish Olympic footballer.[1][2]

Leon Sperling
Sperling (fourth from right) with the Cracovia Kraków team (1921).
Personal information
Date of birth 7 August 1900
Place of birth Kraków, Austria-Hungary
Date of death 15 December 1941(1941-12-15) (aged 41)
Place of death Lwów Ghetto, Poland
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Forward
National team
Poland 16 (?)

Sperling was born in Kraków, and was Jewish.[3] He was a football forward, playing on the left wing. Sperling represented Cracovia,[4] the team he led in 1921, 1930, and 1932 to the Championship of Poland.[5] He also played in 16 games for the Polish National Team,[6] including Poland's lone game at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.[7][8][9] He was regarded as a highly skilled dribbler.[10] He also coached in Lvov.[10] Sperling is one of Cracovia Kraków's legends.

Sperling was shot to death by the Nazis in the Lwów Ghetto in December 1941.[9][11][2][12] His Jewish teammate, Józef Klotz, was also killed in the Holocaust.[2]

See also

References
  1. "Тридцать лучших еврейских футболистов в мире за всю историю футбола". Archived from the original on 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
  2. Grunwald-Spier, Agnes (January 7, 2016). Who Betrayed the Jews?: The Realities of Nazi Persecution in the Holocaust. The History Press. ISBN 9780750958011 – via Google Books.
  3. Std, Associate Curator for Jewish History Sean Martin; Martin, Sean (September 7, 2004). Jewish Life in Cracow 1918-1939. Vallentine Mitchell. ISBN 9780853035077 – via Google Books.
  4. Ezra Mendelsohn (2009). Jews and the Sporting Life: Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXIII. pg 17: Oxford University Press US. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-19-538291-4.CS1 maint: location (link)
  5. "Football and Murder: The Deadly Game". November 12, 2014.
  6. Mendelsohn, Ezra (March 31, 2009). Jews and the Sporting Life: Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXIII. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199724796 – via Google Books.
  7. Leon Sperling
  8. Schaffer, Kay; Smith, Sidonie (September 7, 2000). The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813528205 – via Google Books.
  9. "Leon Sperling Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". April 18, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
  10. Bolchover, David (May 6, 2019). "Remembering the cream of Jewish footballing talent killed in the Holocaust" – via www.theguardian.com.
  11. Kay Schaffer & Sidonie Smith (2000). The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games. pg 61: Rutgers University Press. p. 318. ISBN 0-8135-2820-8.CS1 maint: location (link)
  12. "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
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