Antoni "Kajtek" Czortek (; 1915–2004) was a Polish boxing champion, a legend in the sport. He was a 1939 silver medalist in the Amateur Championships of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, a multiple champion of Poland and a participant in the 1936 Olympic Games in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He is equally, if tragically, remembered for his heroic struggle for life in the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

Early years

Czortek was born on July 2, 1915, in

Grudziądz Grudziądz ( la, Graudentum, Graudentium, german: Graudenz) is a city in northern Poland, with 92,552 inhabitants (2021). Located on the Vistula River, it lies within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the fourth-largest city in its prov ...

(German: ''Graudenz''), then part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. He started his career in the local club GKS Grudziądz, but his talent was soon noticed in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. He moved to the capital of Poland and represented the team of Skoda Warszawa (team's name was in 1936 changed into

Okęcie Warszawa Okęcie () is the largest neighbourhood of the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland. It is the location of Warsaw Chopin Airport Warsaw Chopin Airport ( pl, Lotnisko Chopina w Warszawie, ) is an international airport in the Włochy district o ...

). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he settled in

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...

, where he fought for

Radomiak Radom Radomiak Spółka Akcyjna (''Radomiak S.A.''), commonly known as Radomiak Radom, is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Radom, Poland. The club was founded in 1910 and competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Football in Poland ...

, and become a successful coach. His name was widely known to boxing fans in Poland in the 1930s and late 1940s, as he participated in 23 official international boxing matches, winning eighteen fights, and losing four, with one tie. In 1936 he took part as a

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

in the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. In the first round he beat

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

boxer Pierre Bonnet, but lost in the second to South African fighter

Alec Hannan Alexander Irvine Hannan (13 February 1916 – 31 March 2002) was a South African boxer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1936 he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the bantamweight class aft ...

. Czortek found greater success during the

1937 European Amateur Boxing Championships The 1937 European Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Milan, Italy from 5 to 9 May. It was the fifth edition of the competition, organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA The ''End All Be All'' game system, common ...

. That year, in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, he was fourth in the bantamweight, losing to future champion, Anton Osca from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Two years later, during the

1939 European Amateur Boxing Championships The 1939 European Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Dublin, Ireland from 18 to 22 April. It was the sixth edition of the bi-annual competition was organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA. There were 71 fighters ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, he won silver, after beating Karl Käbi from

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

and Lambert Genot from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In the final fight, Czortek lost to Patrick Dowdall from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In the 1930s Czortek was a top boxer in his homeland. He won his first gold at the age of nineteen, in 1934 in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

. He was a champion of Poland three times in the interwar period (1934, 1938, 1939) (he would also win a national championships in 1949, after the war); he had numerous silver and bronze medals; he was second in the Polish championships in 1935 and 1948, and third in 1936.

Fighting for his life in Auschwitz

During the

Polish September Campaign The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after ...

, Czortek fought with his division near the border town of

Wieluń Wieluń ( la, Velun) is a town in south-central Poland with 21,624 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), it was previously in Sieradz Voivodeship (1975–1998). Wieluń has a long and rich history. In the past, ...

. After Poland’s defeat, he returned to

, and hid there, using the name Antoni Kamiński.Czortek, Antoni
2004-01-19 The

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

were looking for him, and he eventually had to leave Warsaw and stay in the countryside near

Grójec Grójec is a town in Poland, located in the Masovian Voivodeship, about south of Warsaw. It is the capital of the urban-rural administrative district Grójec and Grójec County. It has 16,674 inhabitants (2017). Grójec surroundings are consid ...

, with his wife’s family. Shot in the leg by a German patrol (he continued to limp until his death), Czortek was recognized and sent to Auschwitz. His heroic struggle for survival is still remembered in Poland. Czortek, who had the number 139559, was forced by the SS guards to participate in boxing matches. James Anthony Mangan, ''Sport in Europe: politics, class, gender'', Routledge, 1999,
Google Print, p.243
/ref> Wojciech Lipońsk
Europejski charakter sportu
/ref> Altogether, he took part in fifteen fights there, most of them with much heavier inmates, and one with an SS trooper named Walter, this last fight was crucial, as if he were defeated, the Germans intended to kill him. In 1944 he was transferred to

Mauthausen-Gusen Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 further ...

, and in the spring of 1945 was freed by the

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After the war

Upon returning to Poland, Czortek settled back in Warsaw, but in 1947, after losing a fight to an unknown boxer from

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...

, he left the capital and moved to

.Którzy odeszli
, sport.pl, 2004-10-29 As he later told reporters, he was too ashamed to stay in Warsaw after his unexpected loss, and gladly accepted the offer from Radom. His wife was a native of Warsaw and did not want to move, but they were promised a two-bedroom apartment and she relented. Czortek fought until 1949, winning the Polish national championship. He then became a coach in Radom, teaching amongst others the Olympic champion

Kazimierz Pazdzior Kazimierz (; la, Casimiria; yi, קוזמיר, Kuzimyr) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the Cr ...

. Czortek was well-respected and was made an

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of Radom, and was frequently invited to galas and banquets. In summer of 1978 Czortek had a cameo part in Polish boxing feature movie ''Clinch'' directed by

Piotr Andrejew Piotr Andrejew (27 October 1947 – 12 June 2017) was a Polish film director and screenwriter sometimes credited as Piotr Andreyev or Piotr Andreev. Andrejew was born 27 October 1947 in Szczecin, Poland. His films include features ''Theft '' (197 ...

(film released in 1979). Czortek died on January 15, 2004, in Radom, and is buried at a local cemetery.

References

External links

A photo of Czortek during the late 1940s boxing matchCzortek at the Polish Film database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czortek, Antoni 1915 births 2004 deaths Bantamweight boxers Boxers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Poland World War II civilian prisoners Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Mauthausen concentration camp survivors People from Grudziądz Sportspeople from West Prussia Sportspeople from Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Polish male boxers Auschwitz boxers

Early years

Fighting for his life in Auschwitz

After the war

See also

References

External links