| Alfred Flatow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1869-10-03)3 October 1869 |
| Died | 28 December 1942(1942-12-28) (aged 73) |
| Gymnastics career | |
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics |
| Country represented |  Germany |
Alfred Flatow (3 October 1869 – 28 December 1942) was aJewishGermangymnast.[1][2] He competed at the1896 Summer Olympics inAthens. He was murdered inthe Holocaust.
Flatow was a successful competitor in 1896. He won theparallel bars, was the runner-up in thehorizontal bar, and was a member of the German team that took thegold medals in both the parallel bars and the horizontal bar team events. He also competed in the vault,pommel horse, and rings competitions. Flatow's cousin,Gustav Flatow, was also a member of the German gymnastics delegation in 1896.
After his return to Germany he and most of the other German gymnasts were suspended, because theDeutsche Turnerschaft (at this time thegoverning body of German gymnastics) boycotted the Olympic games with the reason that competing was "unGerman."
In 1903, Flatow was a co-founder of the Judische Turnerschaft, the historic and pioneering Jewish sports organization in Europe. A gymnastics teacher since 1890, he started writing books about his sport in the early 20th century. In 1933, Flatow was forced to end his gymnastics club membership "voluntarily", as he wasJewish. He was prominent in German gymnastics until expelled by theNazis in 1936.[3] He was nevertheless honoured at the 1936 Olympics, where all German Olympic champions were invited.
Flatow emigrated from Germany to theNetherlands in 1938 due to Nazi persecution of Germany's Jewish community. The Netherlands was invaded by Nazi Germany in May 1940. On 3 October 1942, Flatow was deported toTheresienstadt concentration camp in spite of appeals by the highly placed gymnastics official Christian Busch. He died there of starvation at the age of 73 before the end of the year.[4] His cousinGustav Flatow was also murdered in theHolocaust. Alfred died inTheresienstadt Ghetto on 28 December 1942, Gustav on 29 January 1945.
In 1981, he was inducted into theInternational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[5]
In 1997,Berlin honoured Alfred and Gustav Flatow by renaming theReichssportfeldstraße (a lane) near theOlympic Stadium toFlatowallee (Flatow-avenue). There is also theFlatow-Sporthalle (sports hall) atBerlin-Kreuzberg with a commemorative plaque for both. TheDeutsche Post issued a set of four stamps to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic games. One of these stamps shows the Flatows.
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