The lives of Jews in prewar Europe were rich in culture and tradition. Jews excelled in practically every part of society. Not only were they scholars and teachers, doctors and lawyers, but many were renowned athletes as well. Jews competed in the most coveted sporting competitions throughout Europe, including the Olympics. "Jews and Sport Before the Holocaust: A Visual Retrospective," displayed rare photographs and artifacts portraying Jews who participated in different sporting events and competitions prior to WWII, including champion boxer Victor Perez, the Hapoel football team from Poland, and the HaKoach Vienna hockey team competing at the Bar-Kochba International Sports Games in 1937.
Sports often served as a bridge between the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds. Friendships and comradery formed between these two societies. During the Holocaust, some of these bonds would help save Jews, when non-Jewish athletes risked their own lives to rescue their Jewish compatriots from Nazi persecution. "The Game of Their Lives" exhibition featured the inspiring accounts of a dozen of these brave men and women who were later recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, including world-renowned Italian cyclist champion Gino Bartali, Olympian swimmer Margit Eugénie Mallász, and Czechoslovakian soccer player Martin Uher – all of whom truly embodied the Olympics spirit of "social responsibility and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles."
As the two exhibitions were particularly timely and relevant, Yad Vashem made a concerted effort to promote and market them to a variety of global audiences. The exhibitions were promoted in Yad Vashem’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels, utilizing the unique outreach options each social media network offers. A cross-section of potentially relevant audiences was identified and targeted in multiple languages. As a result, content from the exhibitions was shared with over 2.5 million people around the world, and articles about the exhibitions in English, Hebrew, German and Spanish appeared in numerous online and print media outlets, generating great public interest.
One of the featured stories in "The Game of Their Lives" recounts the wartime refuge given by German-born gymnast Maria Helena Bruhn to her Jewish husband, the typographer and graphic designer Henri Friedlander, his fellow Jewish artist Paul Citroen and members of the Dutch underground in her home between 1942 and 1945. To avoid drawing the attention of the German authorities to her house, Maria pretended to be a Nazi sympathizer and gave gymnastics lessons to female Nazi officers. With her income, she managed to provide for all of her charges, among them Resistance worker Paul Guermonprez and his Jewish wife, Trude Jalowetz. After the war, the Friedlanders immigrated to Israel, where Henri continued to study, teach and work in typography – eventually designing the popular Hebrew typeface Hadassa for which he was awarded the Guttenberg Prize – typography’s highest award.
Maria and Henri's granddaughter, Ayala Tal, was delighted to discover that her grandparents' story had been highlighted during the Olympics:
"These stories – of Maria and the other Righteous Among the Nations – will always be treasured by human beings around the world. They are optimistic, and despite the inherent difficulties and challenges they faced, these noble rescuers were filled with a decisive and unfettered love for their fellow human beings. They are the purest examples of 'loving your neighbor as yourself,' and should be emulated by all of humanity."
This article originally appeared in the "Yad Vashem Jerusalem Magazine," volume 81.
