Athletic Clubs

With plenty of leisure time available to them, the Jewish DPs formed athletic clubs and organized sporting events. Camp newspapers included sports sections, and one newspaper was entirely devoted to covering the thriving soccer, volleyball, boxing, and table tennis leagues. Sports were not merely recreation for the DPs, they represented a means of both rehabilitation from the physical degradation of the Holocaust and preparation for the rigors of the pioneering life in Palestine.

 

Two boxers sparring in the ring at a sports event at the Zeilsheim DP camp.
Competitors line up at a sporting event at the Zeilsheim DP camp.
This poster advertises boxing matches between two rival clubs in Austria. May 1947.
A survivor of the Kovno ghetto, Abe Malnik wore these boxing gloves when he fought as a light-heavyweight in the Landsberg DP camp.
Identification card issued by the Society of Jewish Sport organizations.