His early chances of becoming an elite athlete seemed negligible as he was introduced to wrestling by a doctor who told his parents that physical activity might help strengthen their short and underweight son.

[2] Defying the odds, in his crowning achievement, he won an Olympic gold medal in 1936 in the Lightweight Freestyle class.

As a Jewish wrestler, his victory in the Berlin 1936 Nazi Olympics provided special significance, because it came at the expense of Germany's vaunted titleholder, Wolfgang Ehrl.

[3] He won a silver medal in the Lightweight Freestyle class at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Frozen from the water, he died shortly after.”[4][5][6][7] For the rest of the war he succeeded in hiding in the Banki woods and in Pest with family and friends.