Moshe Weinberg

Moshe Weinberg was born in 1939 in Haifa

Moshe Weinberg was born in Haifa in 1939, the only child of Eliezer and Hania. His father died when he was a child, his mother moved to Germany, and he was raised by his grandmother. A neighbor, the former German wrestler Erwin Becker, introduced him to wrestling and became his coach.

He began wrestling at Hapoel Haifa and was Israeli youth and adult champion for 8 years in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. He won a bronze medal at the 1961 Maccabiah and a gold medal at the 1965 Maccabiah.

After his IDF service he studied physical education at the Wingate Institute and became a certified coach there. He coached the Hapoel Tel Aviv wrestling team and the national team.

He went to the 1972 Munich Olympics as national wrestling coach. On 5 September 1972, Black September members broke into the Israeli quarters. Weinberg was wounded, led the attackers past Apartment 2, attacked them again and helped wrestler Gad Tsobari escape, and was then shot dead, the first of 11 Israelis killed.

He was buried in Petah Tikva. His son, actor Guri Weinberg, played him in the 2005 film Munich.