Józef Franciszek Korbas (11 November 1914 – 2 October 1981) was a Polish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He played for

Cracovia Cracovia is the Latin name for the Polish city of Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesse ...

and the Poland national team during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

Club career

In Cracovia, Korbas played from 1935 to 1939. In 69 games during that time, he scored 54 goals.

International career

Korbas is famous for his excellent national team debut. On 12 September 1937 in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, he scored three goals in a 3–3 draw against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. In the history of the Poland national team, only two players managed to score a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in their first game, the other being

Zygmunt Steuermann Zygmunt Steuermann (5 February 1899 – December 1941) was a Polish footballer who played as a forward. He was one of the most renowned members of the Hasmonea Lwów football club. Life Born in Sambor, then in Austro-Hungarian Galicia, Steue ...

. Korbas's second and last match in white-red jersey took place 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 ...

on 25 September 1938, a 4–4 draw against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. In this game, he also scored a goal.

After football

During

Nazi occupation of Poland Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...

, in 1942 was arrested by the Germans and in March 1943 sent to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. From there, he was shuttled to

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

. Having survived this, he returned to Poland after the war, and became a sports official as well as a coach. He managed Stilon Gorzów in 1954. Korbas died on 2 October 1981 in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

Honours

Cracovia *

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

References

1914 births 1981 deaths Footballers from Kraków Polish Austro-Hungarians Sportspeople from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Men's association football forwards Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers KS Cracovia players Ekstraklasa players 1938 FIFA World Cup players Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Polish football managers Stilon Gorzów Wielkopolski managers 20th-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-footy-forward-1910s-stub