Mayer, Paul (Yogi)

sportsman

born: 08.09.1912 in Bad Kreuznach

died: 08.07.2001 in London

As a boy, Mayer, who later gave himself the "Bundian" name "Yogi", admired the Jewish athletes and European champions Julius and Hermann Baruch from his hometown. When his mother died, the family moved to Wiesbaden. Mayer found his "second home" in sport and in the German-Jewish Wanderbund. He became a referee at the Wiesbaden 1911 Swimming Club. After graduating from the Oberrealschule am Zietenring, Mayer's only opportunity to study was the Hochschule für Leibeserziehung in Berlin. In January 1933, Mayer was appointed federal leader of the "German-national" Jewish youth association "Schwarzes Fähnlein". With over 400 members, the Wiesbaden local group was one of the largest members of the "Schwarzes Fähnlein", to which a total of over 20 local groups belonged. In 1935, Mayer became head of the youth department of the Reichsbund Jüdischer Frontsoldaten - the only Jewish organization permitted by the Nazi state to engage in club sports activities. As Jewish athletes, including himself, were excluded from the 1936 Olympic Games despite qualifying, Mayer reported on the games as a journalist. He taught at Jewish schools in Berlin in 1937/38 and wrote articles for the "Philo-Lexikon" and "Das jüdische Sportbuch".

He was able to leave Germany in 1939 with his wife Ilse and their young son on a visa as a supervisor of "Kindertransports". During his emigration, Mayer enlisted as a paratrooper in the British army in 1940 and was an instructor in the "Special Operations Executive S.O.E." from 1943. After his release, Mayer initially ran a Jewish youth club in London. In 1947, he took over the management of a home for children liberated from concentration camps. In 1957, he accompanied the British team to the Maccabiad in Israel as a coach. From 1965-78, he was youth officer in London Islington and initiated new models of youth work for emigrants, which were taken up throughout England.

Mayer made himself available to the "Förderkreis Aktives Museum für deutsch-jüdische Geschichte in Wiesbaden e.V." as a contemporary witness and reported on his experiences at Wiesbaden schools for 15 years. On November 4, 1997, Queen Elizabeth II awarded him the honorary title of "Member of the British Empire" for his extensive commitment to youth work. A year later, the University of Potsdam awarded him an honorary doctorate for scientific, journalistic and educational achievements. In order to have really "earned" the title, as he explained to the author, he wrote the book "Jüdische Olympiasieger" (Kassel 2000).

On his 90th birthday, "The Jewish Chronicle" ran the headline: "Yogi Mayer, who has achieved legendary status in the Anglo-Jewish sporting world..." In an obituary, the newspaper "The Time" dedicated an entire page to him on August 6, 2011: "Yogi Mayer: Inspirational youth leader."