Saputo in Budapest: “Weisz an open wound for us all”

This afternoon in Budapest, a statue dedicated to Arpad Weisz was unveiled at an impressive ceremony at the Eiffel Műhelyház. The coach of Jewish origin, who had to leave Bologna and Italy in 1938 due to racial laws, was later deported and killed in Auschwitz with his wife and two children. He was born in Solt, a city in present-day Hungary, in 1896.

During the ceremony, after an institutional introduction by Hungarian Minister of the Presidency of the Council Gergely Gulyás and speeches by Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and the president of the Hungarian Football Federation and FIFA vice-president Sándor Csányi, Bologna president Joey Saputo spoke, in attendance at the event along with CEO Claudio Fenucci,

“Arpad Weisz is an open wound for all of us,” Saputo said during his speech. “Not only because of the tragic and horrific death he suffered, as well as his family and millions of Holocaust victims, but also because his story remained buried in general disregard for over sixty years. It was only in 2007, thanks to the extraordinary investigation by Italian journalist Matteo Marani, author of the book “From Scudetto to Auschwitz” (Dallo scudetto ad Auschwitz), were we able to reconstruct him and his family’s tragic story. Since then, every year, on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we remember Arpad Weisz. I hope that this statue, deservedly dedicated to him by his country of origin, serves as a perpetual reminder to future generations: be vigilant to all forms of discrimination and always remember the story of Arpad Weisz. Similar tragedies must never happen again.”

Pictured, from left: Bologna President Joey Saputo, Hungarian Football Federation President and FIFA Vice-President Sándor Csányi, Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Hungarian Prime Minister Gergely Gulyás.