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
Playing 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.[2][7] 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.[8][9][10] Weisz finished his career by coaching FC Dordrecht in the Netherlands,[9] 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.[7][5]

External links

• Jews In Sports
• Hungarian Players and Coaches in Italy

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. The Greatest Comeback: From Genocide To Football Glory: The Story of Béla ... - David Bolchover
3. Arpad Veisz | Players | F.C. Internazionale | inter.it
4. http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/111381/italy-rediscovers-a-hero-football-lost-shoah
5. Who Betrayed the Jews?: The Realities of Nazi Persecution in the Holocaust - Agnes Grunwald-Spier
6. Remembering the remarkable Arpad Weisz - Football - Eurosport
7. "Who was Arpad Weisz?" | NEWS
8. Bologna pay tribute to Holocaust victim Arpad Weisz | Paddy Agnew
9. Erbstein: the triumph and tragedy of football's forgotten pioneer - Dominic Bliss
10. The Italians - John Hooper