The Legacy on the Pitch
Pavel Mahrer, a Jewish professional soccer player, built his early career in Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States, where his son Jerry held American citizenship. That citizenship became a crucial shield for the entire Mahrer family during the darkest years of the Holocaust.
In the Theresienstadt ghetto, Pavel found a unexpected stage as the star player of a league organized by the Nazis, a grim reminder that even in captivity the love of the game could offer a fleeting sense of normalcy and, in his case, a temporary reprieve from deportation to Auschwitz.
When Memory Meets Public Relations
A new exhibit at Holocaust Museum LA titled "The Beautiful Game: The Untold Story" aimed to explore the intersection of Jewish life and soccer, yet it omitted Pavel Mahrer’s remarkable narrative. The omission was not the only source of disappointment; a museum social‑media post that framed "Never Again" as applying to all victims of genocide sparked a PR crisis.
The museum quickly deleted the post and issued an apology, a move the family interpreted as cowardice rather than contrition. After a meeting with the institution’s CEO, the family left without a satisfactory explanation of how the museum’s actions aligned with its mission to inspire a more humane world.
Lessons for Today
For the author, soccer remains more than a sport; it is a living link to a lineage that survived because of a simple ball and the opportunities it opened. The experience underscores the need for Jewish institutions to care about the safety of all peoples and to apply the lessons of Jewish suffering to contemporary global challenges.
Now a player himself, the author feels a kinship with teammates and fans worldwide, sharing a love for the game that once saved his family and continues to shape his sense of responsibility toward a more inclusive future.