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Martin Roßkamm, born 04 April 1915 in Schwarza, was the second child, and second son, of Abraham/Adolf and Nandl Roßkamm.
Martin was 18 when the Nazi regime began on 30 January 1933. He made plans to leave Germany for the United States: on 13 January 1936, he received a visa to enter the United States; on 4 February 1936, he sailed from Bremen to New York City. (1) From there he made his way to Cleveland, Ohio where his uncle, Sol Reinthal, lived.(2)
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Memories of Martin Roßkamm remained in Schwarza long past his departure from the village. Never to be forgotten was his prowess on the football pitch, where his role was that of “Libero,” or “sweeper,” the deep-lying defender positioned behind the main defensive line who “sweeps up” loose balls.
When the end of the East German regime made it possible to research and document the earlier Jewish communities, the story of the last football game in which Martin played, in August 1935, was published in one of the most important publications about the Jewish communities of south Thuringia.(3)
Below is a translation of the account of eyewitness Lothar von Hausen. (Martin probably knew von Hausen, b. 1923 in Schwarza.)
“The last game of the football club, “Black and Yellow” or ‘One for all – all for one'”
“Schwarza has always been home to a sports-loving community, a tradition that continues to this day. Around the turn of the 20th century, there were two sports clubs: the Workers’ Sports Club—also known as ‘Red Sport’—and the German Athletes, who greeted each other with ‘Good Health’ and whose belt buckles bore the inscription ‘Fresh, pious, cheerful, free.’ All clubs had access to a youth center built in 1912. In addition, a sports field had been laid out for track and field athletes, handball players, and football players. The football players were organized into two clubs, the TSV team and the ‘Black & Gold’ club, Martin’s club.
After Hitler’s rise to power, the entire German sports movement was brought into line with Nazi ideology and merged into the so-called ‘Reich Federation for Physical Exercise and Fitness.’ Club life in Schwarza came to a standstill. But in the summer of 1935, an extraordinary sporting event cast its shadow. The football fans were ecstatic. The Libero of their ‘Black and Yellow’ team had managed to persuade one of the strongest teams in Germany at the time, Spielvereinigung (SpVgg) Schweinfurt 02, to play a friendly match in his hometown. What truly stirred the fans’ enthusiasm, however, was the anticipation of seeing their idols, national team players Kupfer and Kitzinger, take to the field and score goals on their home turf. The Nazi elite, however, were appalled. Not because of the sporting highlight itself, but because it had been organized without the involvement of the National Socialist Reich Federation, and by none other than the Jewish Libero, Martin Roßkamm. How had Martin Roßkamm arranged this?
The then 21-year-old, whose grandmother [Fanny Rosskamm, née Riegheimer, to be confirmed] was from Kitzingen, had contacts through his father’s family and business connections with the idols of the German national football team, Kitzinger and Kupfer from Fürth. Through them, he had managed to organize the upcoming football match with SpVgg Schweinfurt. At precisely 1:45 p.m., both teams entered the football field and took their positions. Referee Amberg from Zella-Mehlis extended his arm, pointed to the coin lying on his flat palm, and asked the captain of the Schweinfurt team, “Heads or tails?” At that moment, as the coin toss was about to take place, three men, one of whom was unusually heavyset, reached the center circle. The fat man was Otto Recknagel, the Nazi Party district leader from Steinbach-Hallenberg, also known as ‘Double Otto’ because of his size. He demanded that the referee not start the game until ‘this Jew’—pointing at Martin Roßkamm—had left the field. This demand provoked protests from the players of both teams and soon from the spectators as well. Voices rose up: “Let Martin stay in!” Finally, Martin’s teammates put their minds to it. As if with one voice, they declared: ‘If Martin has to leave, we won’t play today, nor ever again!’ Clearly impressed by this team spirit and the increasingly enthusiastic spectators, the district leader and his companions left the pitch. The game began half an hour late, during which goals were scored: 9 by Schweinfurt and 4 by the home team, including the ‘undesirable’ Martin Roßkamm. It was the last game of the Black and Yellows, because the Nazi rulers tolerated no Jewish members in German clubs. Martin’s teammates, however, stood by their word; without him, they would not play.”
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- The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85
- 1940 United States Federal Census.
- H.Nothnagel/E.Schwerda/L.v.Hausen, “Chronik über jüdisches Werden und Vergehen in Schwarza,” in: Hans Nothnagel (Hrg.), Juden in Südthüringen geschützt und gejagt. Eine Sammlung jüdischer Lokalchroniken in sechs Bänden, Bd. 1, Verlag Buchhaus Suhl, Suhl 1998, pp. 187-8.