Gottfried Erik Fuchs (also Godfrey Fuchs; (3 May 1889 – 25 February 1972) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Olympic footballer. He scored a then-world record 10 goals for the

Germany national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international Association football, football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football ...

in a 16–0 win against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

at the

1912 Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, bet ...

. He left Germany to escape

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, as he was Jewish, and ultimately emigrated to Canada.

Biography

German Jew The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

, he was exiled and fled

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1937 because of

and emigrated first to England and then in 1940 to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. His older brother was composer and architect Richard Fuchs. Fuchs debuted for the

German national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deutsc ...

at the age of 18. He played for (1904–06, 1914–20), and Karlsruher FV (1906–14)—winning the German national title in 1910, beating

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., simply as KSV Holstein or Kieler SV Holstein, commonly known as Holstein Kiel (), is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s thro ...

1–0. In 1912, they lost the final against Holstein Kiel, 1–0. Between 1911 and 1913 he was considered the best centre in the world. During this time period he earned six caps, and scored 14 goals. Fuchs was part of the legendary attacking trio of Karlsruher FV with

Fritz Förderer Friedrich "Fritz" Förderer (5 January 1888 – 20 December 1952) was a German amateur footballer who played as a defender and competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was born in Karlsruhe and died in Weimar. He was a member of the German ...

and

Julius Hirsch Julius Hirsch (7 April 1892 – declared dead 8 May 1945) was a Jewish German Olympian international footballer who was murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust. He helped Karlsruher FV win the 1910 German ...

(who was killed in Auschwitz). He was the first German player to score four goals in a single match. He is remembered for scoring a world record 10 goals for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in a 16–0 win against

at the

in Stockholm on 1 July, becoming the top scorer of the tournament; his international record was not surpassed until 2001 when Australia's

Archie Thompson Archie Gerald Thompson (born 23 October 1978) is an Australian former professional footballer. He also is serving as a club ambassador for Melbourne Victory FC. Born in New Zealand, Thompson played youth football at the New South Wales Institu ...

scored 13 goals in a 31–0 defeat of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internation ...

. This performance of 10 goals in one international match tied a record set by Sophus Nielsen at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an International sport, international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. Th ...

, which remained on the books until

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

. The

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system ...

erased all references to him from their records between 1933 and 1945. He had the record of being the top German scorer in one match. He served in the German Army in World War I as an artillery officer, and was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia e ...

. In 1928, he and his family moved to Berlin. He was a member of the local tennis club Nikolassee e. V., but it barred him from membership in 1935. When, years after the Holocaust in 1972, German former player and national team coach

Sepp Herberger Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...

asked the German Football Association vice president

Hermann Neuberger Hermann Neuberger (12 December 1919 – 27 September 1992) was the seventh president of the German Football Association (''Deutscher Fußball-Bund'', DFB) from 1975 until his death in office in 1992. Career Neuberger, son of two teachers, grew ...

to invite Fuchs as a guest or a guest of honour to an international against Russia on the 60th anniversary of Fuchs' performance for the German team, the DFB Executive Committee declined to do so, writing that it was not willing to invite Fuchs because it would have created an unfortunate precedent (as was pointed out, given that Fuchs was the last remaining former Jewish German international, the DFB's concern about creating a precedent was a difficult one to understand).

References

External links

Pictures at Karlsruher-fv1891.de
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchs, Gottfried 1889 births 1972 deaths Jewish Canadian sportspeople Jewish German sportspeople Jewish footballers German footballers Germany international footballers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Canada Olympic footballers of Germany Footballers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Karlsruher FV players Footballers from Karlsruhe Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914) Association football forwards

Biography

See also

References

External links