Julius Hirsch

Julius Hirsch (7 April 1892 – declared dead 8 May 1945) was a German international footballer. A Jew, he was executed at Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust. He helped the Karlsruher FV win the 1910 German football championship, and also played for the Germany national team, including at the 1912 Summer Olympics. He then joined SpVgg Fürth, with whom he won the 1914 German football championship.

Biography Hirsch was born in Achern, Germany (and later lived in Karlsruhe), was Jewish, Nicknamed "Juller", he was a dynamic midfielder and striker best known for his attacking style, his hard shot, and powerful left foot. He helped Karlsruher FV win the 1910 German football championship.

Hirsch was the first Jewish player to represent the Germany national team, which he joined at 18 years of age in 1911. He played in a number of matches for Germany, including at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. His brother Leopold was killed in action in June 1918, also fighting for the German Army.

He returned to KFV after World War I, and retired in 1925.

In the Holocaust Reading in a newspaper on 10 April 1933 that all Southern German clubs would ban Jewish members, Hirsch left KFV by his own choice after over 30 years as a member. In a letter to his club he requested that it should not be forgotten that many Jews had given their life blood for the German nation and believed themselves to be true patriots, as shown by their deeds and words. He had not believed that the government would harm him, as he had fought for Germany in World War I and played for Germany's national football team. His arrival was not registered in surviving camp records and it has been assumed from this he may have been gassed immediately after arrival in camp. In February 1945 his children were deported to Theresienstadt, from which they were liberated by the Red Army in May 1945. for outstanding examples of integration and tolerance within German football.