Jewish boxers fight for their lives in concentration camps?

[clewder]

'Two Greek Jewish boxers from Thessaloniki, who survived Nazi concentration camps after being forced to beat other prisoners in the ring, are featured in the new podcast “Holocaust Histories.”

The five episodes highlight different boxers from across Europe who were in the prime of their lives and careers in the 1930s and 1940s, but whose dreams were shattered by Hitler’s army.

Episode Four focuses on Salamo Arouch and Jacko Razon, who were born and raised in Thessaloniki, which had the largest Jewish community in Greece. The two men, both Jewish, trained together at a boxing gym; Arouch eventually became a successful fighter while Razon turned his attention to soccer.

As Hitler advanced through Europe, both men joined the Greek military, and were eventually captured. In the spring of 1941—one month apart—they were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous concentration and death camps in German-occupied Poland.

There, and at other camps, they boxed other prisoners to stay alive, forced to do so by Nazi guards. Each won fight after fight, often against far larger men, knowing that one loss would likely mean death. Arouch was only 1.67 meters tall (5 feet 6 inches) and weighed just 61 kilograms (135 pounds), but in one fight, he knocked out another inmate who stood 1.98 meters—a foot taller.
“We fought until one went down or they got sick of watching,” Arouch told People magazine in 1990, referring to Nazi guards who would place bets on the fights. “They wouldn’t leave until they saw blood. The loser would be badly weakened. The Nazis shot the weak,” he said.

Jonathan Bonder created the Holocaust Histories podcast and narrated the episodes. He called it “remarkable that between the two of them [Arouch and Razon], they won a combined 328 fights in concentration camps with their life on the line—never losing.” Bonder, 36, answered questions from Greek Reporter in an email from his home in Toronto.'

https://greekreporter.com/2022/07/25/gr ... azi-camps/

Can anyone shed light on this? Is it true?

[borjastick]

My first thought was, another rubbish story made up for the masses who just cannot get enough of jewish sufferink in their holocaust.

Then I thought this. How would the Germans who captured these two men know they were jews? Did the Greek army ID car or dog tags specify religion? I really don't know but it is worth asking.

As for their claims of winning at all costs because the Germans shot the losers. Total rubbish.

[curioussoul]

This sounds absolutely ridiculous. How many of these improbable stories are gonna keep popping up?

[Hektor]

My first thought was, another rubbish story made up for the masses who just cannot get enough of jewish sufferink in their holocaust.

Then I thought this. How would the Germans who captured these two men know they were jews? Did the Greek army ID car or dog tags specify religion? I really don't know but it is worth asking.

As for their claims of winning at all costs because the Germans shot the losers. Total rubbish.

It sounds pretty much like a story that people would make up and spread as rumor. Plenty of stories like this make the rounds.
It's also not the first time I heard a story like this.... There is folks that try to be interesting with such stories, or gain sympathies.