Books written to address the myth that Jews are no good at sport all have a common flaw — discussing a list of great Jewish athletes does not allow us to gauge the overall success (or failure) of Jews as a group at sport. This book provides such a gauge by comparing the successes of Jewish athletes with those of Australian athletes at the Summer Olympics.
The book is, however, more than a comparison of two groups of athletes. Intriguing personal stories, snippets of history and the intertwining of bigotry and irony will engage the reader. Who would think it possible that five Jewish athletes could survive incarceration by the Nazis to subsequently compete at the Olympics with one of them winning a gold medal while three of them would also set world records? Or that the most successful Olympians in countries who have treated their Jewish citizens most harshly are two Jewish women—Irena Kirszenstein-Szewinska in Poland and Agnes Keleti in Hungary? Is there a more fitting irony than the 1938 Nazi propaganda movie, Olympia, inadvertently showcasing a Jewish Olympian as its hero?
Perhaps truth really is stranger than fiction.
It’s certainly more interesting.
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