Lejzor Ilia (also "Ilja") Szrajbman (April 25, 1907 – 1943) was a

Jewish Polish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long period o ...

Olympic freestyle swimmer. In 1935, he was the Polish 400m freestyle champion. He competed in the 1935 Maccabiah Games in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, and for Poland at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. In 1938, he won a gold medal in the Polish 4x200m relay freestyle championship. Szrajbman was murdered in 1943 in the

Majdanek concentration camp Majdanek (or Lublin) was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp built and operated by the SS on the outskirts of the city of Lublin during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It had three gas chambers, two wooden gallows, ...

Biography

Szrajbman was born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland. His parents were Lejzor and Masha.Nigel McCrery (2021)
''The Undying Flame; Olympians Who Perished in the Second World War''
/ref> He attended Waclaw Szwedkowski Boys Junior High School in

Siedlce Siedlce () ( ) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). The city is situated between two small rivers, the Muchawka and the Helenka, and lies along the European route E30, around east of Warsaw. It is ...

, Poland. He served as an officer in the Polish 9th Light Artillery Regiment. He was a Jewish Academic Sports Association and Legia swimmer. In 1935, Szrajbman won the Polish 400m freestyle championship. Szrajbman was Jewish, and competed in the 1935 Maccabiah Games in

. He competed for Poland at the 1936 Summer Olympics in the men's 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

. In 1938, Szrajbman won a gold medal in the Polish 4x200m relay freestyle championship. In August 1939, Szrajbman was competing in the 1939 International University Games in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

, but left the competition and went to Poland to fight the Germans with the Polish 30th Kani Rifle Regiment upon the outbreak of the September 1939

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

. He later fought in the 1943

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the gas chambers of the ...

. Szrajbman was murdered in 1943 in the

References

1907 births 1943 deaths Competitors at the 1935 Maccabiah Games Jewish military personnel Jewish swimmers Maccabiah Games competitors for Poland Maccabiah Games swimmers Military personnel from Warsaw Olympic swimmers for Poland People from Warsaw Governorate People who died in Majdanek concentration camp Polish civilians killed in World War II Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust Polish male freestyle swimmers Polish military personnel killed in World War II Swimmers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Warsaw Warsaw Ghetto Uprising insurgents 20th-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-swimming-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References