Árpád Weisz Explained

Árpád Weisz
Birth Date:16 April 1896
Birth Place:Solt, Austria-Hungary
Death Place:Auschwitz-Birkenau, Germany
Position:Left winger
Years1:1922–1923
Clubs1:Törekvés SE
Years2:1923–1924
Clubs2:Makabi Brno
Years3:1924–1925
Clubs3:Alessandria
Caps3:6
Goals3:1
Years4:1925–1926
Clubs4:Inter Milan[1]
Caps4:10
Goals4:3
Nationalyears1:1922–1923
Nationalteam1:Hungary
Nationalcaps1:6[2]
Nationalgoals1:0
Manageryears1:1926–1928
Managerclubs1:Inter Milan
Manageryears2:1929–1931
Managerclubs2:Inter Milan
Manageryears3:1931–1932
Managerclubs3:Bari
Manageryears4:1932–1934
Managerclubs4:Inter Milan
Manageryears5:1934–1935
Managerclubs5:Novara
Manageryears6:1935–1938
Managerclubs6:Bologna
Manageryears7:1938–1940
Managerclubs7:Dordrecht

Árpád Weisz (in Hungarian pronounced as /ˈaːrpaːd ˈvɛis/; also spelt Veisz; 16 April 1896 – 31 January 1944) was a Hungarian Olympic football player and manager. Weisz was Jewish,[3] [4] and was murdered with his wife and children by the Nazis during the Holocaust in World War II at Auschwitz.[5]

Playing career

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

Weisz earned six international caps between 1922 and 1923, and was a member of the Hungarian squad at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.[7] A serious injury cut short his playing career.[8]

Coaching career

After retiring as a player in 1926, Weisz became an assistant coach at Alessandria before moving to Inter Milan, where at the age of 34 he won one championship in the 1929–1930 season.[9] [10] 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.[11] [12] [13] 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.

Legacy

In January 2020, Chelsea unveiled a mural by Solomon Souza on an outside wall of the West Stand at Stamford Bridge. 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'.[14]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Arpad Weisz | Players | F.C. Internazionale | inter.it. FC Internazionale - Inter Milan.
  2. https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=22711 Árpád Weisz on eu-football.info
  3. Web site: Reference at www.thejc.com.
  4. Book: Bolchover, David. The Greatest Comeback: From Genocide To Football Glory: The Story of Béla Guttman. 18 May 2017. Biteback Publishing. 9781785902642. Google Books.
  5. Book: Grunwald-Spier, Agnes. Who Betrayed the Jews?: The Realities of Nazi Persecution in the Holocaust. 7 January 2016. The History Press. 9780750958011. Google Books.
  6. Web site: Remembering the remarkable Arpad Weisz. 15 January 2013. Eurosport.
  7. Web site: Árpád Weisz . Olympedia . 23 August 2021.
  8. News: Costantino . Sostene . Arpad Weisz: the Auschwitz victim who helped shape the idea of modern football . 27 February 2019 . . 27 February 2018.
  9. Web site: Remembering the cream of Jewish footballing talent killed in the Holocaust. 6 May 2019. The Guardian.
  10. Web site: Who was Arpad Weisz?. Inter Official Site. 8 September 2020. 3 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220703101305/https://www.inter.it/en/news/2013/09/24/who-was-arpad-weisz.html. dead.
  11. Web site: Bologna pay tribute to Holocaust victim Arpad Weisz | Paddy Agnew. 30 January 2018.
  12. Web site: Erbstein: the triumph and tragedy of football's forgotten pioneer. Dominic. Bliss. 1 December 2014. Blizzard Media Ltd. Google Books.
  13. Book: Hooper, John. The Italians. 8 September 2015. Penguin. 9780525428077. Google Books.
  14. Web site: Chelsea unveils mural with Jewish soccer players murdered at Auschwitz. The Jerusalem Post. 20 January 2020 .