Lejzor Ilia (also "Ilja") Szrajbman (April 25, 1907 – 1943) was a Polish Olympic freestyle swimmer. In 1935, he was the Polish 400m freestyle champion. He competed in the
1935 Maccabiah Games in
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...
, 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 seven gas chambers, two wooden gallows, a ...
.
Biography
Szrajbman was born in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
, 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 [] ( yi, שעדליץ ) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship (1975–1998). The city is situated ...
, Poland. He served as an officer in the Polish 9th Light Artillery Regiment.
He was a Jewish Academic Sports Association and Legia
Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...
swimmer. In 1935, Szrajbman won the Polish 400m freestyle championship.
Szrajbman was Jewish, and competed in the 1935 Maccabiah Games in Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...
.
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, both by area and by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, as measured by population within city limits having gained this stat ...
.
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 (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino i ...
, 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 (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...
. He later fought in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany' ...
.
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 seven gas chambers, two wooden gallows, a ...
.
See also
* List of select Jewish swimmers
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 of 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 of World War II
Swimmers at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Swimmers from Warsaw
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising insurgents
{{Poland-swimming-bio-stub