Ernest Wilimowski
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Ernest Otton Wilimowski (German: Ernst Otto Willimowski, nickname: “Ezi”) was an outstanding Polish-German football player, regarded as one of the best goalscorers in the history of both the Polish national team and in Polish club soccer. He will always be remembered as the first player to score four goals in a single FIFA World Cup game. Wilimowski also occasionally played ice hockey for the team Pogon Katowice.
Born on 23 June 1916 in Kattowitz, Germany (now Katowice, Poland) as Ernest Otton Pradella, he was raised in a Silesian family, typical of the Polish-German borderland. His father Ernst-Roman died on the Western Front in the First World War and his mother Paulina re-married. At the age of 13 he was legally adopted by his stepfather and took on the surname Wilimowski. At home, he spoke German for the most part, while at school and outside of the house he spoke a Silesian dialect of the Polish language. After the war officially a citizen of Poland, he referred to himself as Upper-Silesian.
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[edit] Early years
[edit] Ruch Chorzow
Wilimowski played on the left side as a forward and showed himself to be a very skilled dribbler as well as a natural goalscorer. He began his career with the ethnically German side 1. FC Katowice, then in 1933 at the age of 17, moved to Ruch Wielkie Hajduki, known today as Ruch Chorzow. "Ezi" quickly established himself as the team's best player: in his first season he scored 33 goals to lead the league. With such excellent footballers as Teodor Peterek and Gerard Wodarz, both Polish national players, Ruch won championships in 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, and 1938.
Wilimowski played 86 games for Ruch, scoring 112 goals, and was the league's top goal getter in 1934 and 1936. He also led the league in scoring in 1939 until the German invasion of Poland interrupted play in the country. On May 21 of that year, he scored 10 goals in a match against Union Touring Łódź as his club won a lopsided 12:1 victory. That performance still stands as a league record.
[edit] Polish national team
Soon after beginning his club football career, “Ezi” earned his first cap for Poland when he debuted against Denmark in København on May 21, 1934 in a 2:4 loss: he was just 17 years and 332 days old. In a total of 22 appearances for Poland Wilimowski netted 21 goals, a pace of nearly a goal a game. However, his off field conduct was less than ideal and in 1936 the young man's penchant for drinking and partying led to a one year suspension imposed by the Polish football association just before the Olympic Games in Berlin. Without his goal scoring touch the Poles managed only a fourth place finish in the Olympic tournament. Many experts felt his presence could have brought the team a gold medal. The onset of war pre-empted the 1942 FIFA World Cup where Wilimowski would have been part of a strong Polish side expected to make a good showing.
Wilimowoski's appearances for Poland include two performances that were both historic and memorable.
In a match against Brazil played in Strasbourg, France during the 1938 FIFA World Cup "Ezi" put on a stunning display by becoming the first player ever to score four goals in a single World Cup match. His continued attacks on the opposition net also drew a penalty as he was fouled to the ground by Brazilian keeper Batatais, which led to Poland's fifth goal scored from the spot by Fryderyk Scherfke. Unfortunately, it was not enough - Poland lost the match 5:6 and was eliminated from the tournament.
Wilimowski put on another memorable display on August 27, 1939 in Warsaw in an international friendly against what was then one of the best sides in the world - Hungary, the losing 1938 World Cup finalist. After 33 minutes of play the Hungarians were ahead 2:0. In reply, Wilimowski scored three goals and again drew a penalty through his attacking play which was converted by teammate Leonard Piatek) giving Poland a 4:2 win. The match was the last played before the invasion of Poland and the start of World War II just a four days later.
[edit] War years
After the division of Poland, Wilimowski took German citizenship and served as a police officer, which helped him avoid other military service. It also allowed him to continue his footballing career as Poles were not permitted to participate in sports under the Nazi occupation. Hardly anyone knows that at the beginning of the war “Ezi” had to hide from the Nazis. This was because back in 1933, he had changed teams - from German 1. FC Katowice, to a strongly pro-Polish Ruch Chorzow. Among 1. FC’s officials there was a man named Georg Joschke, an active member of NSDAP, who hated Wilimowski for this transfer. Allegedly, Joschke threatened “Ezi” that he would have to carry a letter “P” (which stands for “Pole”) on his clothes. This never happened, as Wilimowski was a too-appreciated player and German soccer officials decided to take care of him.
He played for sides including 1. FC Katowice (1939-1941), Polizei-Sportverein Chemnitz (1940-1942), and TSV 1860 München (1942-1944), where he was a member of the Tschammerpokal winning side of 1942 (today's German Cup).
1. FC Katowice was supposed to be a model “wunderteam” of new, Germanic Upper Silesia. Occupiers created there a very good side, which consisted of Polish Silesians. Apart from Wilimowski there were: Erwin Nyc, Ewald Dytko and Pawel Cyganek. “Ezi” played there until February of 1940, then found himself in Chemnitz, where became a policeman, playing for the local team. In 1940 Wilimowski was at his best shape. His soccer skills were so appreciated, that nobody in Sachsen ever mentioned about him becoming member of the NSDAP
[edit] Ezi's games in German national team
The Germans, together with manager Sepp Herberger, developed an immediate appreciation of his talent. Herberger himself was very impressed by Wilimowski’s four goals scored against Brazil in 1938 and he insisted on “Ezi” playing in the German lineup. However, it was not until mid-1941 that Wilimowski debuted in the national team.
In 1941-42, "Ezi" represented Germany in 8 matches, scoring 13 goals (1.63 per match). His German debut took place on June 1, 1941, in Bucharest in a 4-1 victory over Romania. His last cap for Germany was earned on November 22nd 1942 against Slovakia in Bratislava in a 5:2 German win. After this match, Germany no longer played international friendlies, because of the war.
Out of games played for the German national team, three need to be emphasized. First is “Ezi”’s debut, against Romania in Bucharest (June 1, 1941), in which he scored twice, with the first goal as early as in the 3rd minute. Second match, also against Romania, took place August 16, 1942 in Beuthen (now: Bytom). This was “Ezi”’s lone official international friendly game in his native Upper Silesia, both in Polish and German jersey. Germany routed the opponents 7-0, with Wilimowski’s one goal (another German star, Fritz Walter, netted three times). 55 thousand fans who came from all Upper Silesian cities, cheered their favorite player. This was the biggest sporting event in the region during the war.
However, these two games (as well as scoring three goals in Helsinki, against Finland, on October 5, 1941 Germany won 6-0) are no match to “Ezi”’s greatest match, which occurred on October 18th 1942 in Bern. While thousands of kilometers away German Sixth Army was storming Stalingrad, the German national team faced Switzerland. The Hosts were regarded as a very tough, hard-to-beat opponent. Wilimowski was at his best, scoring four out of five goals for Germany (the last one was netted by Fritz Walter). The visitors won 5-3.
[edit] End of career
After the war, Wilimowski stayed in Germany and enjoyed a career that lasted until 1959. During this period he played for several German teams including TSV Detmold, BC Augsburg, FV Offenburg, and VfR Kaiserslautern. Regarded by the Polish government as a traitor, he was not allowed to visit his Silesian homeland. During the FIFA World Cup 1974 in Germany, Wilimowski allegedly wanted to pay a visit to the Polish national team, but was refused permission.
“Ezi” died on August 30, 1997 in Karlsruhe, Germany, leaving behind four daughters.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Biography (Polish)
- [1] (Polish)
