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Otto Herschmann

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Otto Herschmann
Personal information
CitizenshipAustrian
Born(1877-01-04)4 January 1877
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died17 June 1942(1942-06-17) (aged 65)
General Government, German Occupied Poland
Occupation(s)Swimmer, fencer, lawyer, and sport official
Sport
CountryAustria
SportSwimming and fencing
Club1.W.A.S.C., Vienna (Austria) / Wiener AC, Vienna (Austria)
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals1896, 1912
Medal record
Representing  Austria-Hungary
Men's swimming
Silver medal – second place 1896 Athens 100 m freestyle
Men's fencing
Silver medal – second place 1912 Stockholm Team sabre

Dr. Otto Herschmann (4 January 1877 – 17 June 1942) was an Austrian Jewish swimmer, fencer, lawyer, and sports official. He is one of only a few athletes who have won Olympic medals in multiple sports, having received a silver medal in swimming in 1896 and a silver medal in fencing in 1912. He also worked as a lawyer, and served as president of the Austrian Olympic Committee and the Austrian Swimming Federation. Herschmann was murdered by the Nazis in 1942 during The Holocaust.[1]

Biography

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Herschmann was Jewish, and was born in Vienna, Austria.[2][3][4][5] He was affiliated with the 1.W.A.S.C. in Vienna, and the Wiener AC in Vienna.[5]

Olympic swimming career

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Herschmann first competed at the initial modern Olympic Games, the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, at the age of 19 in the men's 100 metres freestyle swimming event.[2][4][5][6] On 30 March, he and the other swimmers were taken by boat into the Bay of Piraeus to compete in the open sea.[5] The competitors swam from a starting line between two buoys, through a course marked by a number of floating hollow pumpkins, to a red flag finish line at the shore.[5]

Herschmann placed second and won a silver medal, with a time of 1:22.8, 0.6 seconds and half a metre behind the winner, Alfréd Hajós, as the other swimmers trailed far behind.[5][7][8][9][10][11][12]

AinsworthSports.com ranked Herschmann as tied for the second-best swimmer of the 1890s, behind Alfréd Hajós.[13] In 1904, he wrote Wiener Sport, which was published by H. Seemann.[14]

Olympic fencing career

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In the 1906 Summer Olympics, Herschmann competed in Athens in individual sabre, but did not medal.[5] He returned to Olympic competition at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, competing as a member of Austria's sabre fencing team at the age of 35, 16 years after he first won a medal.[2][11] On 15 July he won a silver medal in the team competition.[2][10][11][12][15] In so doing, he became one of only a few athletes to win Olympic medals in more than one sport.[2][16][17][18]

Other Jewish fencers who participated in the 1912 Olympics included Hungarian gold medal-winning sabre fencers Dr. Jenő Fuchs, Dr. Dezső Földes, Lajos Werkner, and Dr. Oszkár Gerde, and Austrian silver medal-winning sabre fencer Albert Bogen.[12]

Athletic administrative posts

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At the time he won his fencing medal, Herschmann was serving as President of the Austrian Olympic Committee, a position that he held from 1912 to 1914.[2][19] He is the only person to win an Olympic medal while serving as president of a National Olympic Committee.[2][20]

Herschmann was one of Europe's top authorities in sports.[21][22] In November 1913, he traveled to various cities in the United States, including Boston, New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Chicago, to study US sports organizations and recruit trainers to work with Austrian athletes training for the Olympics.[21][23][24][25][26] That month, when he was visiting the U.S. as the Austrian athletic envoy, the Boston Athletic Association gave him a banquet, and in December 1913 the Board of Governors of the New York Athletic Club held a banquet honoring him.[27][28] He lauded the United States system for the quality of physical and mental training provided.[22][25][29] He noted in contrast to the European system, high-quality training was provided to all athletes, not only those who lacked natural talent.[22]

Herschmann served as President of the Austrian Swimming Federation from 1914 to 1932.[5][19]

Holocaust and death

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Herschmann was in private practice as a lawyer in the 1940s. He was persecuted during the era of the Nazis because he was Jewish.[19] On 14 January 1942, Herschmann was deported from Vienna to the General Government region of German-occupied Poland, where he died shortly after. Some sources report that he died in Izbica transit camp,[30] while others suggest that he was gassed in Sobibor extermination camp.[5][7]

Honors

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Otto-Herschmann-Gasse in Vienna, Austria

Herschmann was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.[4] On 7 November 2001 his hometown Vienna named a lane "Otto-Herschmann-Gasse" (Otto Herschmann Alley) in his honor in Simmering, the 11th District of Vienna.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Otto Herschmann". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Joseph M. Siegman (1992). The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. SP Books. ISBN 9781561710287. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  3. ^ Jim Reisler (2012). Igniting the Flame: America's First Olympic Team. Globe Pequot. ISBN 9780762786596. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  4. ^ a b c "Otto Herschmann". Jewishsports.net. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Otto Herschmann Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at". Sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  6. ^ John Nauright, Charles Parrish (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598843002. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Nach 116 Jahren: Silber für Otto Herschmann". Kurier.At. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  8. ^ Olaf Brockmann (12 July 2012). "Olympic Silver for Austria 116 years late" (in German). Kronen Zeitung. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  9. ^ "Otto Herschmann Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  10. ^ a b Peter S. Horvitz (2007). The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes: An Illustrated Compendium of Sports History & the 150 Greatest Jewish Sports Stars. SP Books. ISBN 9781561719075. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  11. ^ a b c Paul Taylor (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics – With a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medalists. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781903900871. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  12. ^ a b c Bob Wechsler (2008). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. KTAV Publishing House. ISBN 9781602800137. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  13. ^ "Swimming All Time Greats Top Swimmers of the 1890s". Ainsworthsports.com. Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  14. ^ Otto Herschmann (1904). Wiener Sport. H. Seemann. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  15. ^ Leonard Greenspoon (2012). Jews in the Gym: Judaism, Sports, and Athletics. Purdue University Press. ISBN 9781557536297. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  16. ^ Jewish Book World (2006). Jewish Book World, Volumes 24–25. JWB Jewish Book Council. ISBN 978-1-58023-248-7. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  17. ^ Uriel Simri (July 1973). Physical education and sports in the Jewish history and culture: proceedings of an international seminar at Wingate Institute. Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  18. ^ Dr. Uriel Simri. "A historical view of Jewish men and women in sports and their participation". International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  19. ^ a b c d "Archivmeldung: Simmering: Namensgebung für die Otto-Herschmann-Gasse" (in German). Wien.gv.at. 11 June 2001. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  20. ^ Doug Lennox (2009). Now You Know Big Book of Sports. Dundurn. p. 255. ISBN 9781554884544. Retrieved 25 March 2013. otto herschmann.
  21. ^ a b American Athletes the Best Trained. The Reformatory Press – Iowa. Reformatory at Anamosa. 1913. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  22. ^ a b c "U.S. Athletics Best Trained". The Clinton County Times. 19 December 1913. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  23. ^ "Dr. Herschmann Sails". The Christian Science Monitor. 3 December 1913. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  24. ^ American Physical Education Review; Physical Culture in America. American Physical Education Association. 1914. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  25. ^ a b "Praise for our Athletics; Dr. Otto Herschmann, Austrian Envoy, has Gathered Valuable Material During Tour". Boston Evening Transcript. 1 December 1913. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  26. ^ "Austria Sends Athletic Envoy". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 10 November 1913. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  27. ^ "Dr Herschmann Guest at B. A. A.; Deeply Impressed by Harvard Equipment. Austrian Olympic Commissioner Returns to New York Today. Examines Gymnasiums and Baths of the City". Boston Daily Globe. 26 November 1913. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  28. ^ "TO DINE DR. HERSCHMANN. – Austrian Athletic Envoy to be Honored by New York A.C. To-night". The New York Times. December 1913. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  29. ^ "Sports News Pot Pourri" (PDF). The Morning Oregonian. 6 December 1913. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  30. ^ 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.
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