Auschwitz footballer honoured in Chelsea FC mural
A WELSH World War Two hero and footballer has been honoured by an English premier league club in its fight against racism and antisemitism.
Ron Jones, known as the “Goalkeeper of Auschwitz”, and two other players are depicted on a giant mural at the entrance to Chelsea FC’s West End Wall at Stamford Bridge.
The 12m x 7m painting, by renowned street artist Solomon Souza, is part of Chelsea FC’s Say No to Antisemitism campaign funded by club owner Roman Abramovich.
The giant painting of Jewish football players and British PoWs sent to Nazi camps was made to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day and will be displayed on the wall until the end of the season.
Ron, from Newport, was incarcerated in the E715 Wehrmacht British PoW camp, part of the Auschwitz complex, after being captured aged 23 fighting for Allied forces in Libya in 1942.
A lance corporal in the 1st Battalion Welch Regiment, he was imprisoned for three years.
Put to work alongside Jewish slave labourers at IG Farben’s infamous chemical factory, Ron saw first hand the devastating effects of bigotry but as a PoW had privileges, including the opportunity to play football.
Taken by guards to play the game on fields beside Birkenau, the PoWs saw “walking skeletons” at work and smoke from crematoria, Ron recalled.
Talking to the Western Mail about his experiences before his death last year, the veteran, who still sold poppies at the age of 100, said noone must ever forget the atrocity of the Holocaust and that he considered himself one of the lucky ones as a PoW.
“We made a rag ball and someone bribed the guards with fags to let us use the field between our camp and the Jews’ camp to play football. I was the goalkeeper. It was exciting for us to get out. There were guards with rifles but they didn’t bother us.”
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said: “Millions of people were murdered during the Holocaust. By sharing the images of these three individual football players on our stadium, we hope to inspire future generations to always fight against anti-semitism, discrimination and racism, wherever they find it.”
The two other players honoured in the mural are Julius Hirsch and Arpad Weisz.
Julius Hirsch was a German Jewish international footballer and the first Jewish player to represent the German national team. His exact date of death is unknown.
Arpad Weisz was a Hungarian Jewish football player and manager. He, his wife and two children were deported to Auschwitz, where they were murdered.