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Ben Bril: the youngest-ever Olympic boxer

black and white portrait photograph of Ben Bril whose hands are raised in a boxing pose.

Jewish boxer and referee who survived the Holocaust

by
Adrian Murphy (opens in new window) (Europeana Foundation)

In 1928, on his birthday, Ben Bril stepped into a boxing ring. His match was against Myles McDonagh, an Irish flyweight. McDonagh was 23. Bril was turning 16 that day - he was the youngest ever boxer to take part in the Olympic Games.

This was a second round match (Bril had won a bye in his first round fight).

Bril won this match, before being defeated in his next match. Overall, he finish fifth, just outside winning a medal.

black and white aerial photograph of a stadium in Amsterdam.
colour poster featuring a muscular athlete in a white singlet running against a dark blue sky, an Olympic flag in the background.
colour photograph of a man's suit, with cream trousers, dark navy jacket and a boater hat.

Who was boxer Ben Bril?

Ben Bril was born in 1912 in Amsterdam - host city for the 1928 Olympic Games.

He was the one of seven children to Jewish parents Klaartie Moffie and Abraham Bril, who worked as a fish seller.

One day went with his brother to a boxing club. From that day onwards, Bril started training seriously.

black and white photograph of a group of young men who are wearing shorts in a boxing training room.
black and white photograph, a group of young men in a boxing training room.

Bril's Olympic matches in 1928 came a year after winning his first Dutch national championship. He would go on to win the Dutch national title eight times. He won a gold medal in 1935 at the second ever Maccabiah Games, a multi-sport tournament for Jewish and Israeli athletes.

black and white group photograph of men wearing suits.

Politics, discrimination and Bril's Jewish faith were the reasons for 1928 being Bril's only Olympic matches. He was not chosen for the 1932 squad, and boycotted the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, as they were being held in Nazi Germany.

black and white photograph of Ben Bril with his arms raised, wearing white vest and shorts, on which there is a Star of David.

What happened to Ben Bril during World War II?

During World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Netherlands. In 1942, Bril was arrested by Jan Olij, the son of Sam Olij, a former 1928 Olympic team mate.

Together with his wife Celia and son Albert, Bril was deported via the Vught and Westerbork transit camps to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The family survived the horrors - however many of Bril's extended family were murdered.

black and white portrait photograph of Ben Bril.

In the 1960s, Bril found fame as a boxing referee. He travelled across Europe, refereeing fights for the European Boxing Union. He also returned to the Olympic and Maccabiah Games throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s.

Ben Bril died in September 2003, and is remembered today for his boxing career and legacy.

This blog is part of the Europeana Sport project which showcases cultural treasures relating to sporting heritage in Europe.

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