Gustav Felix Flatow (7 January 1875 – 29 January 1945) was a German

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and at the 1900 Summer Olympics in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Flatow was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and was born in Berent,

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

. In 1892, he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Biography

Flatow competed in the

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syste ...

, vault,

pommel horse The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and ...

, and rings individual events. He won no medals, unlike his cousin and teammate

Alfred Flatow Alfred Flatow (3 October 1869 – 28 December 1942) was a Jews, Jewish Germany, German gymnastics, gymnast. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was murdered in the Holocaust. Biography Flatow was a successful competitor in 18 ...

. However, both were members of the German team that competed in the two team events, for parallel bars and the horizontal bar. As Germany won both those events (the horizontal bar unchallenged), Gustav earned two gold medals. He also competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in

, but without winning medals. He retired from gymnastics to manage his textile company, which he founded in 1899. Gfflatow

After the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

takeover in Germany in 1933, he fled to the Netherlands to find refuge but he was caught ten years later. On New Year's Eve 1943 he was jailed for fleeing and in February 1944 he was deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp, a combination of concentration camp and ghetto. Theresienstadt was different that most of the concentration camps with two different objectives. One was for it to be a way station to the extermination camps. The other objective was for it to be a "retirement settlement" for elderly and prominent Jews. This camp was used to try to mislead the German people about what was really happening. This was the same camp where his cousin who was in the Olympics was sent to. His cousin had already died there in 1942. Less than one year after he got there Gustav starved to death. He was 70 years old when he died on 29 January 1945, months before the Soviet army liberated the camp. In 1986 journalists discovered his urn, which is now entombed in

Terezín Terezín (; german: Theresienstadt) is a town in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,800 inhabitants. It is a former military fortress composed of the citadel and adjacent walled garrison town ...

near the site of the concentration camp. In 1989, he was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere arou ...

. In 1997

honoured Alfred and Gustav Flatow by renaming the ''Reichssportfeldstraße'' (a lane) near the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

to Flatowallee (Flatow-avenue). There is also the Flatow-Sporthalle (sports hall) at

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it ha ...

with a commemorative plaque for both. The

Deutsche Post The Deutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL Group, is a German multinational package delivery and supply chain management company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is one of the world's largest courier companies. ...

issued a set of four stamps to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic games. One of the stamps honors the Flatows.

References

External links

*
Gustav Flatow
at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Flatow, Gustav 1875 births 1945 deaths German male artistic gymnasts People from Kościerzyna People from the Province of Prussia Sportspeople from Pomeranian Voivodeship Gymnasts at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen Gymnasts at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic gymnasts for Germany Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the Netherlands Jewish gymnasts German people who died in the Theresienstadt Ghetto Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics Deaths by starvation International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees

Biography

See also

References

External links