Gustav Flatow

Who was Gustav Flatow?

Gustav Felix Flatow was a German gymnast. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Flatow was Jewish, and was born in Berent, West Prussia. In 1892, he moved to Berlin.

Flatow competed in the parallel bars, horizontal bar, vault, pommel horse, and rings individual events. He won no medals, unlike his cousin and teammate Alfred Flatow. However, both were members of the German team that competed in the two team events, for parallel bars and the horizontal bar. As Germany won both those events, Gustav earned two gold medals. He also competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, but without winning medals. He retired from gymnastics to manage his textile company, which he founded in 1899.

After the Nazi takeover in Germany in 1933, he had to flee to the Netherlands. On New Year's Eve 1943 he was jailed, and in February 1944 he was deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp, where his cousin had already died in 1942. Less than one year later he starved to death there at the age of 70. He lost up to about 20 kg.

In 1986 journalists discovered his urn, which is now entombed in Terezín near the site of the concentration camp.