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 lea ...

who played as a

right wing back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. 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 Hungary national team. After retiring from playing, he coached for several years. Braun was killed in 1943 in a Nazi forced labor camp.

Early and personal life

He was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. 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 (Hungarian for "Hungarian Circle of Physical Practitioners") is a multi-sports club from Budapest, founded in 1888. It has sections for football, handball, basketball, volleyball, futsal, ice hockey, water polo, cycl ...

in the Hungarian League, where he played primarily as a

. 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 Leag ...

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 Socce ...

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 Hungary national team. His first came in a 6 October 1918 victory over

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. His last came in a 3–3 tie with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

, where he played two matches.

Coach

After the break of his active football career, he continued his work in sports as a coach. During 1932, he was a member of a four-member commission in the role of coach of the Norwegian national team for four games.Norway vs Denmark
/ref> Braun later coached

ŠK Slovan Bratislava ŠK Slovan Bratislava (, "Bratislava Slavs") is a professional association football, football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, that plays in the Slovak First Football League. Founded as I. ČSŠK Bratislava in 1919, the club changed its name ...

from 1935 to 1938.

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, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

in support of the Hungarian Army in the Eastern Front in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Braun was killed in 1943 in a Nazi forced labor camp in Ukraine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Jozsef 1901 births 1943 deaths Footballers from Budapest Jewish Hungarian sportspeople Hungarian men's footballers Jewish footballers Hungary men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Hungary Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics MTK Budapest FC players Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Brooklyn Hakoah players Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Brooklyn Wanderers (1922–1931) 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 Men's association football wingers Hungarian Jews who died in the Holocaust Hungarian civilians killed in World War II Hungarian World War II forced labourers Norway national football team managers 20th-century Hungarian sportsmen