József Braun (also known as József Barna; 26 February 1901 – 20 February 1943) was a Hungarian Olympic

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a half back. Braun began his career in Hungary before finishing it in the American Soccer League. He earned 27

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, scoring 11 goals, with the Hungarian national team. After retiring from playing, he coached for several years. Braun was killed in 1943 in a

Nazi forced labor camp ''Arbeitslager'' () is a German language word which means labor camp. Under Nazism, the German government (and its private-sector, Axis, and collaborator partners) used forced labor extensively, starting in the 1930s but most especially durin ...

Early and personal life

He 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 ...

. His nephew is András Kepes journalist, documentary filmmaker and author.

Club career

Braun played as youth with VAC Budapest. In 1916, he signed for

MTK Budapest Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre is a multi-sports club from Budapest, founded in 1888. It has sections for football, handball, basketball, volleyball, futsal, ice hockey, water polo, cycling, gymnastics, athletics, fencing, canoeing, boxing, wrestlin ...

in the Hungarian League, where he played primarily as a

right wing back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned ...

. In 1919, he was selected as the Hungarian Player of the Year. During his years with MTK Budapest, Braun won nine Hungarian championships and two Hungarian cups. He retired from playing in 1925 after suffering from multiple injuries. In 1929, he moved to the United States, where he attempted a comeback with the

Brooklyn Hakoah Brooklyn Hakoah is a former United States soccer team club based in Brooklyn, New York, that played in the American Soccer League. Brooklyn Hakoah I Originally formed by former players of SC Hakoah Wien, they played in the American Soccer Leagu ...

of the American Soccer League. He played 17 games before moving to the

Brooklyn Wanderers The Brooklyn Wanderers was a U.S. soccer team which was a founding member of the National Association Football League in the late nineteenth century. Later versions joined the original American Soccer League and the reorganized American Soccer Le ...

in the fall of 1929. He played 11 games during the 1929–30 season, then retired permanently.

National team

After making his international debut at 17 years of age, Braun earned 27

, scoring 11 goals, with the Hungarian national team. His first came in a 6 October 1918 victory over

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. His last came in a 3–3 tie with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in December 1926. He was a member of the Hungarian soccer team at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

, where he played two games.; accessed 24 March 2018.

Coach

Braun later coached

ŠK Slovan Bratislava ŠK Slovan Bratislava (, "Bratislava Slav") is a football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, that plays in the Slovak Super Liga. Founded as 1. ČsŠK Bratislava in 1919, the club changed its name to Slovan Bratislava in 1953. Slovan is the mo ...

from 1935-38.

Death in Nazi camp

Drafted as a Jew into

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

in support of the Hungarian Army in the Eastern Front in

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 ...

, Braun was killed in 1943 in a

in the Ukraine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Jozsef 1901 births 1943 deaths Footballers from Budapest Jewish Hungarian sportspeople Hungarian footballers Jewish footballers Hungary international footballers Olympic footballers of Hungary Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics MTK Budapest FC players Hungarian expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Brooklyn Hakoah players Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Brooklyn Wanderers players Hungarian football managers Hungarian expatriate football managers ŠK Slovan Bratislava managers Expatriate football managers in Czechoslovakia Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Czechoslovakia MTK Budapest FC managers Association football wingers Hungarian Jews who died in the Holocaust Hungarian civilians killed in World War II Hungarian World War II forced labourers