Leon Sperling

Leon Sperling (7 August 1900 – 15 December 1941) was a Polish Olympic footballer.^[1][2][3]

Leon Sperling

Sperling (fourth from right) with the Cracovia Kraków team (1921).
Personal information
Date of birth	7 August 1900
Place of birth	Kraków, Austria-Hungary
Date of death	15 December 1941(1941-12-15) (aged 41)
Place of death	Lwów Ghetto, Poland
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
<1921–1932>	Cracovia
International career
	Poland	16	(?)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sperling was born in Kraków, and was Jewish.^[4] He was a football forward, playing on the left wing. Sperling represented Cracovia,^[5] the team he led in 1921, 1930, and 1932 to the Championship of Poland.^[6] He also played in 16 games for the Poland National Team,^[7] including Poland's lone game at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.^[8][9][10] He was regarded as a highly skilled dribbler.^[11] He also coached in Lviv.^[11] Sperling is one of Cracovia Kraków's legends.

Sperling was shot to death by the Nazis in the Lwów Ghetto in December 1941.^{[10][12][2][13]} His Jewish teammate, Józef Klotz, was also killed in the Holocaust.^[2]

See also

• List of select Jewish football (association; soccer) players

References

1. . Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
2. Grunwald-Spier, Agnes (7 January 2016). Who Betrayed the Jews?: The Realities of Nazi Persecution in the Holocaust. The History Press. ISBN 9780750958011 – via Google Books.
3. "Leon Sperling". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
4. Std, Associate Curator for Jewish History Sean Martin; Martin, Sean (7 September 2004). Jewish Life in Cracow 1918-1939. Vallentine Mitchell. ISBN 9780853035077 – via Google Books.
5. Ezra Mendelsohn (2009). Jews and the Sporting Life: Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXIII. Oxford University Press US. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-19-538291-4.
6. "Football and Murder: The Deadly Game". 12 November 2014.
7. Mendelsohn, Ezra (31 March 2009). Jews and the Sporting Life: Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXIII. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199724796 – via Google Books.
8. Leon Sperling
9. Schaffer, Kay; Smith, Sidonie (7 September 2000). The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813528205 – via Google Books.
10. . 18 April 2020. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
11. Bolchover, David (6 May 2019). "Remembering the cream of Jewish footballing talent killed in the Holocaust". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
12. Kay Schaffer & Sidonie Smith (2000). The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games. Rutgers University Press. p. 61. ISBN 0-8135-2820-8.
13. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.