The Soccer Star
Tadeusz Gebethner was a well-known Polish soccer player who eventually became an active member of the underground Jewish rescue efforts. He was born into a prominent Polish family, owners of one of the country’s largest publishing houses, and later became captain and president of Poland’s first national soccer team. Gebethner fought with the Polish army against the German invasion of 1939, and following the defeat, was captured and interned. He quickly managed to escape the prison camp, and taking shelter in one of his family’s bookstores, immediately got to work with underground missions to save Jews.
He is most known for his courageous efforts to save the Abrahamer family, Jewish refugees from near Krakow. He helped secure them false identity cards, medical care and shelter, and eventually helped them escape to Hungary. Gebethner was severely injured in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and suffered two amputations. He later died of wounds in a German prison camp.
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