The 1984 Olympic Games have generated great moments of drama, emotion, and triumph. But for Israeli sports writer Sigmund Spiegler, the greatest thrill came for removed from the field of competition.
The Polish-born journalist, during an emotional meeting, arranged by the Simon Wiesenthal center, was reunited with International Olympic Committee vice president, Dr. Bertholt Beitz, the man who saved him, his wife and hundreds of other Jews from certain death during the Holocaust.
Beitz, as a German officer during World War II, directed oil refinery operations in Nazi-occupied Boroslov (Galicia region) where, through his continuous righteous conduct, he was responsible for saving many Jewish lives.
As the two came face-to-face for the first time in 40 years, Spiegler recounted the numerous times that he and his Jewish neighbors were saved through Beitz direct intervention.
“At a time when man’s inhumanity to his fellow man was most manifested, he did not lose his humanity,” said Spiegler. He went on to tell of the occasion when his niece was standing naked at the execution pit awaiting impending death. Beitz rushed in with a document which enabled him to remove her from the scene. Today, Spiegler’s niece lives in Tel Aviv.
Also present at the reunion was Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who presented the Center’s scroll of honor to Beitz. This certificate is given by the Los Angeles-based Holocaust center in recognition of righteous conduct. Beitz, a well-known West German industrialist, has already been recognized for his war-time actions at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
