Robert Fein (9 December 1907 – 2 January 1975) was an Austrian

Olympic Champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

, winning the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the lightweight class at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. The following year, he won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the 1937 World Weightlifting Championships, and set his 23rd world record that year. One year later, he was barred from competing in weightlifting, because he was Jewish, and he never competed again.

Biography

Fein was born in

Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

on 9 December 1907, and was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He broke world

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

records 23 times in total, from 1931 to 1937, when his weightlifting career was abruptly ended by the Austrian authorities."Robert Fein,"
olympics.com. At the 1929 European weightlifting championships in Vienna, Fein won the

. At the 1930 European weightlifting championships in Munich, he won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

. At the 1934 European weightlifting championships in Genoa Fein again won a gold medal, which he shared with 1932 Olympic champion

René Duverger René Duverger (30 January 1911 – 16 August 1983) was a French weightlifter who won a gold medal in the 67.5 kg category at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of ...

. At the 1935 European weightlifting championships in Paris, he won a

1936 Olympic gold medal

In the event for which he was likely best known, Fein competed in weightlifting at the

in Berlin, Germany. He won the gold medal in the lightweight class with a world record lift of 342.5 kilograms (755 pounds), with splits of 105+100+137.5, sharing the win with Anwar Mesbah, with whom his match had ended in a tie. Sixteen weightlifters from twelve nations competed. Fein became one of only thirteen Jewish Olympians to medal in the games which were held during Adolph Hitler's Nazi government, and following the imposition of the anti-Semitic Nuremberg laws. The Nuremberg Laws, passed in the fall of 1935, stripped German Jews of citizenship, opportunities to receive a public education, and access to many professions and public facilities. Jewish businesses had been boycotted and Jews could not serve in the legal profession, the civil service, teach in secondary schools or universities or vote or hold public office.

Taking Silver in World Championship

The Weightlifting World Championships were restored with the 1937 World Weightlifting Championships in Paris, France, the first time they were held since 1923. Fein won a silver medal behind Tony Terlazzo, lifting 355 kilograms (with splits of 107.5+107.5+140), 2.5 kilograms behind Terlazzo. In 1937, Fein set a world record of 360 kilograms, his last world record before the Austrians banned him from competing. In 1937 Fein was decorated with the Gold Medal for Service to the Republic of Austria.

Barred from competition

With the Austrian ''

Anschluß The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany") arose after the 1871 unifica ...

'' in 1938, Fein was barred from further competition because he was Jewish. He was persecuted during the Austrian Nazi regime. Dr. George Eisen of Nazareth College included Fein on his list of Jewish Olympic Medalists, and an account of Fein's overcoming an early deficit to earn a tie for the gold medal with Egyptian weightlifter Mesbah is included in ''Jews and the Olympic Games: the clash between sport and politics: with a complete review of Jewish Olympic medallists''. Fein died at 67 years of age in Vienna, Austria, after a long illness.''Olympic Review''
Issues 89-96 (1975).

Notes and references

External links