Name Attila Petschauer Role Olympic athlete | Died January 20, 1943, Ukraine | |
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Olympic medals Fencing at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's sabre Similar People Endre Kabos, Odon Tersztyanszky, Aladar Gerevich, Adam Papee, Giulio Gaudini | ||
Attila Petschauer (December 14, 1904 – January 30, 1943) was a Jewish Hungarian Olympic champion fencer.
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Fencing career
Born in Budapest, Petschauer was a member of the Hungarian fencing team in the 1928 and 1932 Olympics. Petschauer was regarded throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s as one of the world's top fencers.
Olympic career
In Amsterdam in 1928 he was part of the gold medal-winning Hungarian team in sabre, winning all 20 of his competition matches. In the individual sabre competition, Petschauer won the silver medal.
In the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Petschauer was again part of the champion Hungarian sabre team. The Hungarians won the gold medal in team sabre, and Petschauer finished 5th in individual sabre.
Death
Petschauer was tortured and murdered under orders of his Hungarian commanding officer during his service in a Hungarian-Jewish Forced Labor Battalion. A fictionalized account of his life and death were dramatised in the 1999 film Sunshine, starring Ralph Fiennes.
Hall of Fame
He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.
Memorial event
The Attila Petschauer Event was begun in 1994 as a memorial to Petschauer by his descendant, Dr. Richard Markowitz. It is known across the United States as one of the top sabre events.