OKTOBER 2014
Artifact of the month for October 2014
J.U.F.s handball team 1964-1965
J.U.F.s handball team 1964-1965
Jewish Youth Association (JUF) was founded in Kristiania in 1909. The association started early doing social work. In the 1920’s by instigating money collections for Jewish children from Ukraine and Germany; in the 1930’s by participating in aid operations for the Austrian children who came to Norway in 1938, and after the war by helping Jews in displacement camps in Germany. In the spring of 1917, sporting was admitted to the program. The sports Committee organized various competitions, including skiing, athletics, cross country and tennis. Members of the association also participated in international Jewish competitions, like the ski races at the makkabi in Zakopane in 1933 and Banca Bystrica in Czechoslovakia in 1936.
After the war there were not any recruiting grounds for organized sports activities on a larger scale. The exception was a small handball team who was in business in the early 1960’s. Results were, however, so-so. Former striker on JUFs handball team, Rolf Kirschner recalls: In the season of 1964-65, we put on a team in the Oslo Handball circuit. Just to get a total of 10 players was an almost impossible task. We had to join as a sports club open to all, there was no external entries. Trained in loaned gymnasiums and got 0 points, lost all the matches but had the finest suits in the series.
On the picture of JUFs handball team from the 1964-1965 season we see top from left: Kent Plavnik, Petter Pintzov, Bernt London, Rolf Kirschner and Jan Sender. Bottom from left: Alex Schrager, Peter Beck, Morten Gutman, Fredy Plavnik and Erik Buchmann.
Read more about Norwegian Jews effort in sports in our new exhibition "Integration and the joy of sports".