János Garay (fencer)

Jànos Garay
Born February 23, 1889
Budapest, Hungary
Died March 5, 1945 (aged 56)
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, Austria
Nationality Hungarian
Olympic medal record
Men's Fencing
Representing  Hungary
1928 Amsterdam Team sabre
1924 Paris Team sabre
1924 Paris Individual sabre

János Garay (February 23, 1889, in Budapest, Hungary – March 5, 1945, in Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, Oberösterreich, Austria) was a Hungarian fencer,[1] and one of the best sabre fencers in the world in the 1920s.[2][3]

Fencing career

Hungarian Championship

Garay was the Hungarian national sabre champion in 1923.

European and World Championships

In 1925 and 1930, Garay captured the Individual European Sabre Championship gold medal. He won the team sabre gold medal at the 1930 European Championships.

Olympics

He won silver medal for team saber at the 1924 Paris Olympics.[4]

He also won a gold medal in team saber at the 1928 Amsterdam Games.[4]

Concentration Camp and Death

He was one of 437,000 Jews deported from Hungary after Germany occupied the country in 1944.

Garay was killed shortly thereafter, in 1945, in the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, shortly before the end of World War II.[5]

Janos Garay was not Jewish in religion. His parents were Jewish. He always felt very strongly Hungarian. He fought in World War I as a Captain and was highly decorated. He was part of the team who went to negotiate in England during the War before Hungary joined the Germans. He had a high position in the Office of Foreign Trade. He was on the Gestapo list and therefore immediately taken from his office, as soon the Germans occupied Budapest. He was killed not because of his race or religious beliefs but for his action. After the war he was declared as a political prisoner killed by the Germans.

Hall of Fame

Garay, who was Jewish, was inducted in 1990 into The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel.[6][7][8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.mob.hu/cgi-bin/index.php?file=belso/memorian.html
  2. ↑ "Uc_Hilal : Jews In Sports @ Virtual Museum". Jewsinsports.org. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  3. ↑ "János Garay Biography and Olympic Results | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  4. 1 2 "János Garay Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  5. ↑ Schaffer, Kay; Smith, Sidonie (2000). The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games. Rutgers University Press. pp. 60–62. ISBN 978-0-8135-2820-5.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics – With a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medalists. Sussex Academic Press.
  7. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20030818200655/http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/olympics/zcd078.htm
  8. ↑ "Janos Garay". webcache.googleusercontent.com. January 25, 2010. Archived from the original on October 5, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
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