The Sports Clubs in Ternopil

The Athletic and Physical Culture Zionist
Association – “Beitar”
by A. Landfish

Translated by Moshe Kutten

“Beitar” - the Zionist Association for Athletic and Physical Culture, the first of its kind in Galitsia, Austria, and the whole world, was established in Ternopil in 1904 by Dr. Israel Waldman.

“Beitar” resided in the “Retztvo Mishtzenska” and its counselor was the Ukrainian gym teacher Tchubaty. Members who came out from that association were active later on in all of Ternopil's sports movements^[1].

“Beitar” Association at the time of its establishment
Sitting – Center: Dr. Israel Waldman
To his right: Tchubaty – Ukrainian gym teacher, Dr. Kapel, Dr. Abraham Shwarzman, Joseph Spanier
To his left: Jacob Tzin, Jacob Likhtigfeld, Dr. Weisglas, Hollender

Author's Note:

For details see the article by Dr. Korngruen, column 126. Return

The Sports Club “Yehuda”
by Dov Niman

Translated by Moshe Kutten

At the end of the First World War, when the members of the “Yehuda” sports club, headed by Ya'akov Planer, returned from their service in the Austrian army, they turned to reestablishing the sports movement in the city.

The beginning was hard since the old timers lost their ability to participate in sports activities, and there was a need to train a new generation of athletes.

The first sports appearance of the club was in a soccer game against a student team in Zolochiv.

[Columns 343-344]

The win by the Ternopil team aggrandized the club in the eyes of the public, which mobilized to help it by donating money and equipment.

The club went from strength to strength. For a while, it played as part of the third-level league. However, after the spectacular wins in Ternopil and surrounding areas, the club moved up to the second-level league. The sports team from Ternopil acquired a name for itself. Its number of fans grew, not only among the Jews. The Ukrainians and Poles also respected it.

Fondly remembered is the wheat merchant, Avraham Ketcheh, a Haredi Jew who helped the club with his substantial contributions. He contributed to the club to thank it for the pleasure his children, who were among the outstanding athletes of the club, brought him.

“Yehuda” did not own its own athletic field until the engineer, Mundek Weisglas, took it upon himself to build it on the site of the “Blonia” [?]. He invested a lot of energy in that project until he saw the fruits of his work. Since then, the Ternopil Jewish youth had an athletic field of its own.

A few years before the Second World War, the club succeeded in climbing to the first-level league.

When the antisemitism in Poland strengthened, many members of the club joined the “Hekhalutz” movement to fulfill their life's dream of making Aliya to Eretz Israel. Those members who were not fortunate to do so lost their lives along with the rest of the Polish Jews.

Football Team “Yehuda”, 1924

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