Page 24 - TORCH Magazine - Issue #19

Wall, as is the tradition,” said head coach Emma Hayes.
“We sat around at dinner talking about how important it is understanding the history of this region, seeing the value
of human life, the love of working for a football club that promotes such wonderful values and supports its women’s football team in the way we have. And it was all- round such a brilliant self-reflective day, and one to have time with our owner that we all thoroughly
featuring Jewish athletes who were killed by the Nazis during WW2. Named ‘49 Flames’ in reference to the number of Olympic medallists who were murdered, the exhibit aims to tell the story of the Holocaust through the many stories of Jewish sportsmen and women who died during the war.
They include gold medal-winning gymnasts Alfred Flatow and Gustav Felix Flatow who died of starvation in
enjoyed.
“This experience
has been immensely spiritual for everyone. It’s brought us close together and reinforced the value of life and taking care of each other.”
“Sports have an enormous power to unite people and by sharing the stories of these athletes, we hope to inspire future generations to always fight against antisemitism."
the Theresienstadt concentration camp and track and field athlete Lilli Henoch, who set four world records.
“Sports have an enormous power to unite people and by sharing the stories
of these athletes,
we hope to inspire future generations to always fight against
In 2020, the
club commissioned
an impressive mural to commemorate Jewish footballers who perished during the Holocaust. The completed 12x7 metre piece was presented at a special event at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge for Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 and is situated on the West Stand at the stadium.
Chelsea subsequently worked with
the same artist, Solomon Souza, who is well known for his art around the Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, to create an exhibition
antisemitism, discrimination and racism, wherever they find it,” a statement from Chelsea Foundation says.
Chelsea’s efforts in combatting anti- Semitism within sport and beyond into wider society is commendable. And their efforts in building bridges between Jewish and Arab children is an excellent example to other sports teams of pursuing a higher goal – the goal of diffusing hate and promoting peace.
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