Judenklub Explained

Judenklub (English: Jew club) is a derogatory, antisemitic term used throughout the Nazi era in Germany and Austria, applied to association football clubs with strong Jewish heritage and connections. Some of the most prominent clubs referred to in such a way by the Nazis were FC Bayern Munich, FK Austria Wien, Eintracht Frankfurt[1] and FSV Frankfurt.[2]

In more recent times the term has occasionally also been used in academic literature[3] as well as in the German-language press when reporting on antisemitic chants and attacks by rival fan groups on non-German clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, AFC Ajax, RSC Anderlecht, SK Slavia Prague, MTK Budapest FC and KS Cracovia who have a Jewish heritage or connection.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

FC Bayern Munich

FC Bayern Munich, founded in the bohemian Munich suburb of Schwabing, had a Jewish leadership before the Nazis rise to power and won their first German championship in 1932 under the direction of a Jewish president and coach. In 1933 president Kurt Landauer, director of the youth department Otto Beer and coach Richard Dombi had to leave the club because of their Jewish background and the club consequently declined, losing a large number of its members. Bayern, far less popular with the Nazis than local rival TSV 1860 Munich, had very limited success in the Gauliga Bayern during this era but continued small acts of defiance like the team acknowledging former president Landauer while on a friendly in Switzerland in 1943, where the latter had emigrated to.[9] [10] [11] [12]

For many decades after the end of the Second World War the Jewish past and the events of the Nazi era received little attention from the side of the club until 2011 when the book Der FC Bayern und seine Juden (FC Bayern and their Jews) was published and renewed interest. Until then the club, for various reasons, had been reluctant to address its own history during the Nazi era.[10]

FK Austria Wien

FK Austria Wien, based in Vienna, had, from its formation, been led and influenced by Jewish citizens. The club experienced little antisemitic behaviour until the Anschluss of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938 but this radically changed from then on. After the Anschluss Austria was forced to change its name for a time to SC Ostmark, having to evict all its Jewish members and experiencing only limited amount of success in the Gauliga Ostmark during the time. Austria Wien's Jewish president,, escaped Nazi Germany like Bayern Munich's Kurt Landauer but had a much more difficult time evading arrest and, like Landauer, led his club once more after the Second World War.[13]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: "Wir waren die Juddebube" Eintracht Frankfurt in der NS-Zeit. werkstatt-verlag.de. 10 June 2016. de. »We were the Jewish boys« Eintracht Frankfurt during the Nazi era.
  2. Book: Frankfurter Eintracht und FSV: 1933 endet eine "gute Ära" . bisp-surf.de. Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft . 12 June 2016. de. Frankfurter Eintracht and FSV: 1933 ended a "good era". 9783895334078 . 2003 .
  3. Book: Oswald, Rudolf . 2021 . Brunssen . Pavel . Schüler-Springorum . Stefanie . Football and Discrimination . Routledge . 37–46 . The image of the “Judenklub” in interwar European soccer . 10.4324/9780429341014 . 9780429341014.
  4. Web site: Angegriffene Identität: der "Judenklub" Tottenham Hotspur. 6 March 2013. publikative.org. Der Spiegel. 10 June 2016. de. Attack on identity: the „Judenklub“ Tottenham Hotspur. 8 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160408054537/http://publikative.org/2013/03/06/angegriffene-identitat-der-judenklub-tottenham-hotspur/. dead.
  5. Web site: Antisemitismus im Fußball. 28 March 2008. fussball-gegen-nazis.de. 10 June 2016. de. Antisemitism in football.
  6. Web site: Antisemitisme in België. 3 March 2018. antisemitisme.be. 5 January 2018. nl. Antisemitism in Belgium.
  7. News: Racist fans get Jewish history lesson as rival Prague teams clash . 4 November 2018. . 9 May 2023. Tait. Robert.
  8. Book: Oswald, Rudolf . 2021 . Brunssen . Pavel . Schüler-Springorum . Stefanie . Football and Discrimination . Routledge . 37–46 . The image of the “Judenklub” in interwar European soccer . 10.4324/9780429341014 . 9780429341014.
  9. Schwere Zeiten für den "Judenklub". 12 August 2015 . bpb.de . . 10 June 2016. de. Difficult times for the Jewish club. Rundfunk. Bayerischer.
  10. News: Bayern Munich embrace anti-Nazi history after 80 years of silence. 13 May 2012 . . 10 June 2016. Honigstein. Raphael.
  11. News: Zwischen Saudi-Arabien und "Judenklub". 27 January 2015 . Sueddeutsche.de . . 10 June 2016. de. Between Saudi-Arabia and "Judenklub". Warmbrunn. Benedikt.
  12. News: Bayern Münchens jüdischer Meistermacher. 29 July 2009 . Spiegel Online. . 10 June 2016. de. Bayern Munichs Jewish championship winner. Fischer. Sebastian.
  13. Web site: Fußball unterm Hakenkreuz. 10 March 2008. ballesterer.at. 10 June 2016. de. Football under the Swastika. https://web.archive.org/web/20160130220913/http://www.ballesterer.at/heft/weitere-artikel/fussball-unterm-hakenkreuz-1.html. 30 January 2016. dead.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Judenklub".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.