‘Jews once dominated soccer in Central Europe,’ British Jewish author says

British Jewish author David Bolchover's new book, Digging Deep: Unearthing the Stories of Eleven Murdered Jewish Footballing Greats, reconstructs the lives of 11 Jewish soccer stars who represented their countries before being murdered in the Holocaust. Bolchover highlights a forgotten era when Jewish players, coaches, and administrators were central to European football, particularly in Central Europe. He states, "Jews dominated football in Central Europe in the same way that Black players dominate in the English Premier League now." The book aims to restore the memory of these athletes, such as József Braun and Julius Hirsch, whose stories were largely erased due to the destruction of European Jewry. Bolchover also draws parallels between historical antisemitism in football and contemporary efforts to exclude Israeli teams from international competition, noting, "Now it is the turn of Israel to confront this impulse to purge the world’s most popular sport of Jews."