Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., May 25, 2009 Sivan 2, 5769 | | Israel Time: 13:40 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 04:28 30/04/2009
Auschwitz inmate who survived by boxing dies aged 86
By Roy Barak
Tags: Auschwitz, Israel News 

Salamo Arouch, the Jewish boxer who survived Auschwitz through exhibition fights staged by Nazi officers and whose life inspired the 1989 film "Triumph of the Spirit," died on Sunday at the age of 86.

Arouch, born in Saloniki in 1923, began boxing as a child and became the middleweight champion of the Balkans at 17. The Germans captured Saloniki in 1941, and between March and August 1943, some 50,000 of the city's Jews were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Most of them were dispatched to the gas chambers on arrival, but some 11,000, including Arouch, were sent to the forced labor camp, where the majority later perished as well.

In an interview with People magazine in 1990, Arouch related how he encountered an acquaintance from Saloniki who had been in the camp for some time. "'Where are the others?' I asked. He said, 'They are dead. All gassed and burned.' We thought he was crazy." Shortly afterward, Arouch's head was shaved, his clothes were taken and a number was tattooed on his wrist.
Advertisement

Then, at roll call one day, an SS officer asked whether any of the prisoners could box. Arouch was pushed from the line by friends who knew of his boxing history. The officer asked him if he were ready to fight right then.

"I was very scared," Arouch said. "I was exhausted from being up all night and not eating, but I said yes." He was taken to his first fight that very night, boxing against another inmate. This was the first of 200 matches.

The rules were simple, Arouch said: "We fought until one went down or they [the Nazis] were sick of watching. They wouldn't leave until they saw blood." At the end of every fight, he would return to the barracks with his prize - a loaf of bread - and share it with the other prisoners. Thanks to his special role, he was transferred to kitchen work, which was considered to be safer, and also offered greater access to food, than any other work in the camp.

The boxing allowed Arouch to survive until he was transferred to Bergen-Belsen in 1945. There, he worked at slave labor until the camp was liberated. After the war, he met and married Martha, a woman from Saloniki, and they immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1945. He went on boxing in Israel as an amateur, but became a businessman rather than a professional sportsman.

He acquired worldwide fame in 1989, after "Triumph of the Spirit" was released with William Deffoe in the starring role.

"Salamo returned to the camp just once after the war, to advise the filmmakers," Martha Arouch told Haaretz. "He stayed there for three months, going through the process again with the actors. He gave them advice and showed them how to box. He was happy that something would remain of him after he passed on."

The couple's daughter, Dalia Gonen, told Haaretz that "mother, who was also in Auschwitz and whose story is also in the film, spent the last 15 years caring for father after he had a stroke. Before he fell ill, he would visit schools and Israel Defense Forces bases to tell his story. After the film came out he met with world-famous boxers, like Mohammed Ali and Mike Tyson."



Related articles:
  • IN PICTURES / Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day
  • 'Warsaw Ghetto cigarette seller' dies aged 83
  • Holocaust Remembrance / Researchers shed light on Nazi murder of Soviet Jews
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Banning Nakba
    Ministerial panel approves bill which could make it illegal to mourn Independence Day.
    Defying Obama
    Netanyahu pledges not to form settlements, but says building in existing towns is fair.
      1.   Perhaps the greatest boxing champion ever 07:34  |  Pioneer 30/04/09
      2.   Willem Dafoe 10:35  |  Nate 30/04/09
      3.   amazing story!!!! 13:49  |  yoni 30/04/09
      4.   a lesson 10:45  |  lebanese woman 01/05/09
      5.   I love this story! 13:02  |  Bob 25/05/09
     Haaretz Hot Topics
    The Pope in the Holy Land
    Durban II conference
    Iran: Nuclear and regional ambitions
    Israel vs. Hamas
    Air strike in Sudan


    More Headlines
    13:09 Barak: U.S.-Iran nuclear talks have 'very low' chance of success
    11:45 Obama: North Korea nuclear tests a 'grave concern'
    11:27 IAF planes drop warning pamphlets over Gaza
    13:11 Labor ministers to fight bill banning Nakba events
    12:57 Lieberman's party to seek cabinet okay for loyalty oath
    13:34 Pet Shop Boys to perform in Israel in July
    10:31 Hezbollah could strike Israel to divert Hariri probe
    20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
    10:26 U.S. Congressmen doubt Netanyahu can advance peace process
    10:26 Shas min.: Reform conversions will prompt influx of Palestinians to Israel
    10:28 Canada minister blasts 'dangerous' leftist-Islamist anti-Semitism
    13:40 Israeli, Palestinian activists face off across Vienna river
    10:20 Lieberman withholds condemnation of Russia FM's meet with Meshal
    Previous Editions
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    hotel Jerusalem
    David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
    ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
    IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
    Dead Sea Skin Care
    Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
    Camp Kimama Israel 2009
    The best place for your children this summer
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Jewish Singles Personal Ads
    Find the love of your life on JDate.com
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved