Goldberg, Herman

Sport:
baseball

Country Represented:
United States

Years Competed:
1936

Olympic Info:
Goldberg was a member of the United States baseball team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics; baseball was an exhibition sport that year. Many American Jews expressed the desire that Jewish athletes boycott the Games, to protest the treatment of Jews by the Nazis. In the book Ellis Island to Ebbets Field, Goldberg said he discussed boycotting with other Jewish athletes, but decided not to participate in the boycott unless the whole team stayed home. He said, "We were really American athletes of Jewish religion...not Jewish ballplayers."

Career Highlights:
Following the Olympics, Goldberg signed with the Detroit Tigers and played in the minor leagues. He later received a Master Degree in education of the deaf, and was an Assistant Secretary of Education in the U.S. Department of Education. In 1960, Goldberg went to Bologna, Italy as a Fullbright Professor and helped set up a semi-professional baseball league.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. 1915

Origin:
Brooklyn, New York

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