Statue of Hungarian-born soccer player, Bologna coach Weisz unveiled in Budapest

A statue of Árpád Weisz, a Hungarian-born soccer player who coached Inter Milan and later Bologna before perishing in the Holocaust, was unveiled in Budapest on Wednesday.

The bronze statue was unveiled by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, together with Sándor Csányi, the head of the Hungarian Football Association (MLSZ) and Giuseppe Saputo, the chairman of the Italian Bologna football club.

Addressing the ceremony, Cohen described Weisz as being “a legendary coach” whose legacy has been an inspiration to coaches and players to date. “We must learn from the past and do all in our powers to pre-empt such a destruction from ever happening again,” the Israeli foreign minister said. He said the statue, the first erected for Weisz, serves also as a memento for Weisz, his family and the six million Jews who were murdered in Nazi death camps.

Gulyás in his address said that Weisz has left behind a legacy of unparalleled achievements and his fate is an “eternal warning” over the horrors of the Holocaust.