Wilimowski, who had six toes on his right foot, played on the left side as a forward and showed himself to be a very skilled dribbler as well as a natural goalscorer.
With a number of excellent footballers besides Wilimowski (for example Teodor Peterek and Gerard Wodarz), Ruch dominated the Polish soccer and was the league champion in 1933–1936 and 1938.
Soon after beginning his club football career, "Ezi" earned his first cap for Poland when he debuted against Denmark in Copenhagen on 21 May 1934 in a 2:4 loss: he was just 17 years and 332 days old.
However, his off field conduct was less than ideal and in 1936 the young man's penchant for drinking and partying led to a one-year suspension imposed by the Polish football association just before the Olympic Games in Berlin.
His continued attacks on the opposition net also drew a penalty as he was fouled to the ground by Brazilian keeper Batatais, which led to Poland's fifth goal scored from the spot by German-born Fritz Scherfke, from Poznań.
Wilimowski's record was later equalled by other players, but was bettered only 56 years later, when Oleg Salenko scored five goals against Cameroon during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Wilimowski scored three goals and again drew a penalty through his attacking play which was converted by teammate Leonard Piątek, giving Poland a 4:2 win.
Wilimowski's mother was incarcerated because she got engaged in an intimate relationship with a Russian Jew, which was regarded as Rassenschande in Nazi Germany.
The region's best players were assigned to the team and besides Wilimowski included Erwin Nyc, Ewald Dytko and Paweł Cyganek.
In the final game of the 1942 German Cup, at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, the Munich side won 2–0, with the first goal scored by Wilimowski.
In the final years of the war, Wilimowski became a soldier of the Wehrmacht, but he was allowed to play in army football teams, f.e.
[6] Like other officials, Sepp Herberger, manager of the Germany national team, developed an immediate appreciation for Wilimowski's talent.
The only international match Wilimowski ever played in his native Upper Silesia (in Beuthen, now Bytom, Poland), whether wearing a Polish or German jersey, was on 16 August 1942 versus the Romanian side.
After the war, Wilimowski, who was regarded by the Polish government as a traitor, was not allowed to visit his Silesian homeland during the Communist regime.
During this period he played for, or had talks with, several German club teams including TSV Detmold (in between seasons, no league appearances), FV Offenburg (as a player-coach), BC Augsburg for a short spell in the autumn of 1948, Singen 04, where he had a good comeback scoring 16 Oberliga goals in 1950-51, and VfR Kaiserslautern (including 70 goals in 89 Oberliga Südwest appearances for the latter, all scored when he was over 35 years old).
[5] At the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Wilimowski allegedly wanted to pay a visit to the Poland national team that stayed in Murrhardt near Stuttgart, but was refused permission by PZPN officials.
Wilimowski died in Karlsruhe, Germany, leaving behind four children - three daughters (Sylvia, Sigrid and Ulle) and a son, Rainer.
Legendary coach of the Poland national team, Kazimierz Górski, met Wilimowski at a hotel in Murrhardt during the World Championship in Germany in 1974.