Unique presentation sword, 33 in. blade and 40 in. overall, awarded in recognition of the sport club Hakoah Wien winning the 1925 Austrian soccer championship. The sports club was founded in 1909 and was comprised of entirely Jewish team members, justly named ‘Hakoah’, meaning ‘the strength’ in Hebrew. Despite garnering worldwide support for their athletic feats, the club still often faced anti-Semitism during their travels, and they were forced to use their own wrestling team as a means of security. The 1925 soccer championship for which this sword was created was reportedly quite an exciting one, with the goalkeeper breaking his arm, switching positions with a forward player, and then scoring the winning goal a mere seven minutes later. Unfortunately, all the appreciation they earned could not save them from the mounting persecution of the era, and they were eventually disbanded in 1938, with the NSDAP even appropriating their stadium. Many members of this team would not live through the war, meeting a brutal end in concentration camps. The sword offered here bears a wooden grip, tightly wire wrapped and with a five-bar basket-style hilt. The gilded inscription on the blade reads: ‘Honorary award from the armorer Graffer’ on one side and ‘Championship of Austria 1925’ on the other. A chain is suspended from the sword by loops on the blade and cross guard and bears a folded piece of gilded fabric featuring a Jewish Star of David motif. Some expected tarnish to the sword, otherwise very good. A fascinating relic associated with a story of both perseverance and tragedy.