Józef Klotz (2 January 1900 – 1941) was a Jewish Polish footballer who played as a
forward.
He scored the first ever goal for the
Poland national team. He was killed by the
Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
in the
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...
in 1941.
Biography
Klotz was born in
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
,
southern Poland, and was Jewish.
["Poland honors national soccer player murdered in Holocaust"](_blank)
''Israel HaYom'', 11 June 2019. His father was a shoemaker.
He scored the first ever goal for the
Poland national team. He scored it against
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
in
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
in May 1922, in the team's third international match.
Klotz played for two clubs. He played first for
Jutrzenka Kraków, which he joined as a youth team player and played for from 1912 to 1925, and then for
Makabi Warsaw from 1925 to 1929 (both teams were Jewish minority teams).
He retired as a player in 1930.
He was imprisoned in the
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...
in 1940. He was murdered there by the
Germans
Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
in 1941.
In 2019, Klotz was honored by the
Polish Football Association.
See also
*
List of select Jewish football (association; soccer) players
References
Sources
* Andrzej Gowarzewski "FUJI Football Encyclopedia – History of the Polish National Team (1) – White and Red" ; GiA Katowice 1991
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klotz, Jozef
1900 births
1941 deaths
Sportspeople from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Jews from Austria-Hungary
Jewish Polish sportspeople
Polish men's footballers
Jewish footballers
Footballers from Kraków
Men's association football forwards
Poland men's international footballers
Jutrzenka Kraków players
Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I
Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War
People who died in the Warsaw Ghetto
Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust
Polish civilians killed in World War II
20th-century Polish sportsmen