The Lounge January 21, 2020: Chelsea commemorates Holocaust Remembrance

The club commissioned a huge painting by British-Israeli street artist Solomon Souza, commemorating three prominent footballers who were sent to extermination camps

By MICHAL GALANTI
ARTIST SOLOMON SOUZA with his mural. (photo credit: SHAHAR AZRAN/CHELSEA FC)
ARTIST SOLOMON SOUZA with his mural.
(photo credit: SHAHAR AZRAN/CHELSEA FC)
Last Wednesday, the Chelsea Football Club hosted a large event to mark 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp and to unveil a tribute initiated by the renowned English football club to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The club commissioned a huge painting by British-Israeli street artist Solomon Souza, commemorating three prominent footballers who were sent to extermination camps. The painting now covers an entire wall at the main entrance of the team’s home stadium (Stamford Bridge) in London.
The three footballers commemorated in the painting are:
• Julius Hirsch, a German-Jewish international footballer, who played for the German team until 1923, and was murdered in Auschwitz in 1943.
• Árpád Weisz, a Hungarian-Jewish player and renowned coach who coached the Italian Inter team. His wife and two children were sent to the gas chambers and murdered by the Nazis. Weisz survived by working in the camp as a laborer for a year and a half, before dying in January 1944.
• Ron Jones, nicknamed the Auschwitz Goalkeeper. Jones was a British prisoner-of-war who was sent to E715, a POW camp for British prisoners at Auschwitz guarded by Wehrmacht soldiers. In 1945, Jones was one of the few people to survive the Auschwitz death march.
The Chelsea Football Club, owned by Jewish-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich, has been carrying out a comprehensive effort to combat rising antisemitism for many years, including with the widespread international campaign titled, ‘Say No to Antisemitism’, which has been funded by Abramovich.
The event was hosted by Bruce Buck, Chelsea FC chairman, who stated that the club would continue its campaign against antisemitism with determination for an indefinite amount of time.
Many key leaders from both the UK Jewish community and the world of football, lords, British MPs and public figures attended the event. The English football club also recruited its top players to lead the campaign, including Chelsea men’s captain César Azpilicueta, Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and the Chelsea Women’s Anita Asante, all of whom spoke at the event.  Souza was interviewed on the stage and told the crowd that he’d worked hard to finish his painting before International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 
The closing speech at the event was given by Isaac Herzog, the head of the Jewish Agency, who excitedly recounted how his father Chaim Herzog, who had fought in the British army, was among the first to enter the Bergen-Belsen extermination camp.
“We have a responsibility, first and foremost, as human beings, to pass on the stories and lessons of the Holocaust to the next generation,” said Herzog. “We must not think it can’t happen again as the world begins to forget. The players of this superb football club have been given a tremendous opportunity to be at the forefront in the fight against hatred, racism and antisemitism, and to influence millions of people around the world. Sports, and especially football, is the most influential tool in the world. Players in this glorious English league have experienced racism on the field. Jews experience it on the streets. We must all unite against hatred, racism and antisemitism.”
Translated by Hannah Hochner


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