MILAN - A tribute to Arpad Weisz is to be held on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Italy's greatest coach of the 1930s, Weisz won the first unified national championship while at the helm of Inter (known as Ambrosiana at the time) and died in 1944, one of the six million Jews who perished in the holocaust.
Tomorrow, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Sky Sport Italia are to show a special feature during the build-up to Inter v Torino. "Federico Buffa racconta Arpad Weisz" will be broadcast on SkySport1 and SkyCalcio1 at 19:30, then repeated after the game on the same channels at 1:00 and on SkySupercalcio at 22:45.
Federico Buffa gives voice to Weisz's incredible life story, as told by Matteo Marani in his book Dallo scudetto ad Auschwitz (From the Scudetto to Auschwitz). Born in Solt on 16 April 1896, the Jewish Hungarian was a good footballer - he played at the 1926 Olympics - and an excellent coach, his scientific approach making him almost a precursor to what the coaching profession was to come. He travelled a lot and he won a lot - with Inter and Bologna in Italy. While in Milan, he unearthed the talent that was Giuseppe Meazza, handing him his first-team debut as a 17-year-old in the Coppa Volta in Como. He spent the last part of his career in Dordrecht, Netherlands, when he was already fleeing from Nazism. From there, he and his family made their final journey to Auschwitz.
