Salamo Arouch

In his career, Salamo Arrouch was defeated only by Amlet Falcinelli, so he ended his boxing career with 238 triumphs (all 238 by knockout), 2 draws and one defeat. Salamo Arrouch had most of his 241 matches in a place where he certainly couldn't have expected that, even in the darkest thoughts and in the way that the very thought of him freezes the blood in his veins...

Salamo Arouch was born in Thessaloniki in 1923, and at birth he was named Solomon, from whom he later in his life decided to delete the letter N and change it to Salamo. From an early age, he loved boxing, which he successfully practiced, so by the beginning of World War II, he had already become the champion of Greece and the Balkans. During the war, he continued to train boxing and win fights, but then everything changed in May 1943. German troops captured about 47,000 Jews in Thessaloniki. Of these, 47,000-2,000 were sent to the most notorious Nazi camp in Auschwitz. Among the prisoners was the entire Arouch family, which consisted of a husband, wife and their five children (two sons and three daughters), and one of the sons was the boxing champion Salamo. The entire Arouch family was sent to Auschwitz, and upon their arrival in that infamous camp on May 15, 1943, the real and first horror for the Arouch family followed, because the mother and all three daughters were sent to the gas chamber.

During that time, the other detainees who arrived, including Salamo, survived the torture: "I stood all night completely naked. The Nazis then poured water on us, disinfected us, shaved our heads and pressed numbers on our forearms. Mine was 136954. ” - Salamo Arouch testified later about his first day in Auschwitz. Shortly after the detainees were "arranged", the camp commander appeared in front of them, who, along with instructions on how to behave in the camp, asked the detainees if there was anyone among them who was engaged in boxing or wrestling. Unaware of what awaited him, Salamo Arouch answered, and the camp commander began to laugh. Seeing a very thin and only 168 centimeters tall Salamo, he could not believe that this was a boxer, so he decided to immediately check if the new detainee was lying to him, warning him that in case he turned out to be lying and not a boxer or not possessing the boxing skills he expects will be shot. An improvised ring was drawn in the dust, the commander took out of the bag the gloves that Salamou had ordered to put on, and then took out another detainee named Chaim and ordered them to immediately start the fight in the improvised ring. In that fight, Salamo Arouch showed why he was the boxing champion of the Balkans and very quickly triumphed in the match against a guy who probably didn't even know what had happened to him. Although he knocked out his opponent very quickly and thus saved his life, it was only the beginning of the "hell" that Salamo Arouch will survive in Auschwitz.

Thanks to the victory against Chaim, Salamo Arrouch received additional portions of food and better treatment in the camp, because he was deprived of the most difficult jobs, but he was also informed that he would fight against other camp inmates every Wednesday and Sunday and that he would be shot in case of defeat. or sent to a gas chamber. Also, every opponent who is defeated, and according to the assessment of the authorities in the camp, will no longer be able to work as much as he could before the fight, will experience the same fate. "They were like cockfights, they were held every Wednesday and Sunday night in the warehouse, and the guards watched it all, getting drunk and betting on us. The rules were clear, the fight lasts until one of us falls and is so exhausted that he cannot continue or until there is a lot of blood. They wouldn't let us go until they saw a lot of blood. The loser would be very exhausted and tired, which they did not like at all, so they often killed such people immediately after the match, shooting at them. " - Arouč later recounted the events in Auschwitz. In the next almost two full years, until January 27, 1945, when Soviet-led troops liberated the Auschwitz camp, Salamo Arrouch entered the ring over 200 times and, except in two fights that ended in a draw, triumphed in the others. , fighting several times a week and literally for "naked life" and knowing that any eventual defeat leads him to death.

Salamo Arouch entered many fights in Auschwitz seriously ill and very exhausted, but having no other choice to survive, he always had the strength to fight and mostly triumphed in boxing matches for "naked life", which served as a creepy pastime. Nazi. And while Salamo was boxing in order to survive in the most notorious camp in the history of mankind, his father was sent to the gas chamber because he was no longer able to work, like many camp inmates, and his brother did not survive the camp days, because was shot for refusing to extract gold teeth from the mouths of the killed detainees. Thus, Salamo Arrouch was left in Auschwitz without his entire family, without even being aware of it until the end of the war. When asked many years later how he managed to survive his camp days in Auschwitz and the fact that any eventual defeat in a boxing match led him to his death, but also that every triumph meant that his opponent would probably not survive, Salamo Arouch said: "What kept me alive was my great determination to one day tell the world what I saw and experienced in Auschwitz. I had moments when I wanted to lose the fight and die, but the fact that I survived and that I can now tell what happened in Auschwitz makes me feel good that I didn't stop fighting. "

Based on his records of what he survived in the Auschwitz camp, in 1989 the film "Triumph of the Spirit" was made, which is based on a true story, but is also slightly romanticized, and shows the difficult camp days of Salamo Aroucha. After surviving the gruesome days in Auschwitz, Salamo Arrouch met Martha Jechel after the war, with whom he moved to Israel, where they married and started a family. In the company of his wife, four children and twelve grandchildren, Salamo Auouch reached old age, trying to lead a peaceful family life, but also to speak in public whenever he has the opportunity about the horrors he saw and experienced in Auschwitz.

On April 26, 2009, at the age of 87, Salamo Arouch passed away in Tel Aviv, a man who, thanks to his boxing skills, but also his great will to live, managed to survive the difficult camp days in Auschwitz.