REMEMBRANCE/BOLOGNA – Four Stolpersteine for the Weisz Family

From the Italian sport fields glory to Auschwitz. This is the tragic journey of Arpad Weisz, one of the most successful football coaches in history, winner of three national titles Weisz, as victorious as few others in his field, was forgotten for decades—even by football fans—until Italian journalist Matteo Marani retraced his story in recent years, documenting it in a book that has become a cornerstone of sports-related Holocaust remembrance: Dallo scudetto ad Auschwitz (From championship to Auschwitz).

On January 27, four Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) have been installed in Bologna outside the house where Weisz, a Hungarian-born coach who came to Italy first as a player and later as a tactical innovator, once lived with his wife Ilona and their children Robert and Klara—all of whom were murdered at the infamous extermination camp.

“We commemorate one of the most successful figures in the history of Bologna football and one of the greatest coaches and innovators,” declared Claudio Fenucci, CEO of Bologna FC, during the ceremony. “It is our duty to work—not only on Holocaust Remembrance Day but every day—to tear down barriers and prevent new tragedies.”