Ralph Klein

Ralph Klein was born in 1931 in Berlin

Klein was born in Berlin in 1931 to a Hungarian Jewish family that moved back to Budapest before World War II. His father was murdered in Auschwitz. Klein, his mother and his siblings survived, largely thanks to Raoul Wallenberg.

After the war he played football and then basketball, reaching the Hungarian national league. He moved to Israel with his mother in 1951 and served in the navy. He then played for Maccabi Tel Aviv through 1964 and for the Israel national team, including the 1952 Olympics.

Klein became a coach in 1964. With Maccabi Tel Aviv he won the 1977 European Champions Cup. He led Israel to a silver medal at the 1979 EuroBasket and later coached West Germany at the 1984 Olympics, a move that caused controversy in Israel.

He received the Israel Prize for sport in 2006. He was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2007 but returned to coaching Elitzur Elkana. He died on August 7, 2008, and the Elkana club was named after him.