Lichtenfeld

Imrich “Imi” Lichtenfeld (* May 26, 1910, Budapest, Austria-Hungary – † January 9, 1998, Netanya, Israel) was a Hungarian Jew by origin, who lived in Bratislava. He was later known as an Israeli trainer and founder of the Krav Maga martial art and self-defense system. Lichtenfeld was a successful boxer, wrestler, and gymnast from his youth. He competed in national and international events and was a champion and member of the Slovak national wrestling team. In 1928, he won the Slovak championship in wrestling, in the youth category, and in 1929, in the adult category, in the lightweight and middleweight championship. In the same year, he also won the national championship in boxing and the international championship in gymnastics. In the first half of the 1940s, Jews living in Bratislava were threatened by anti-Semitic uprisings. Along with other Jewish boxers and wrestlers, Lichtenfeld helped defend their Jewish community against racist groups. As soon as he realized that sports had little to do with real combat, he began to develop a system of techniques for practical self-defense in life-threatening situations. In Krav Maga, Lichtenfeld compiled a set of techniques from several martial arts (Karate, Judo, Boxing…) and simplified them so that they could be used in any situation and were sufficient for quick and effective self-defense and elimination of the opponent. In 1944 he began training the elite units of the Haganah and Palmach (forerunners of the Israel Defense Forces) in the areas in which he was a true expert: physical fitness training, swimming, wrestling, knife use and defense against knife attacks. Four years later in 1948, when the State of Israel was established and the Israel Defense Forces were formed at the same time, Lichtenfeld became the chief instructor for increasing the physical condition and combat training of these units. He worked in the IOS for approximately 20 years; during that time he developed and perfected his unique method of self-defense and close combat – Krav Maga. After he left active duty, he began to adapt and modify the Krav Maga system for civilian use so that regardless of the physical fitness of the defender, any motivated attack could be prevented. In order to make his methods accessible to as many people as possible, he established two training centers: one in Tel Aviv and the other in Netanya, where he lived. In the last years of his life, he oversaw the course of training, monitored training programs and worked on their improvement and improvement.

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Following lectures

A series of lectures on the theme of the Holocaust for students of the secondary schools and universities and for the general public

Themes of the lectures in Tatra Gallery Poprad:

1. 81 years from the first transport of Jewish girls from Poprad (1942) – the lecturer: PhDr. Matej Beránek, PhD.

2. Racial politics of the Nazi Germany in 1930s – the lecturer: PhDr. Martin Korčok, PhD.

3. The genocide of Roma people during the Holocaust – the lecturer: PhDr. Martin Korčok, PhD.

4. The persecution of Roma people under the Slovak State (1939 – 1945) – the lecturer: PhDr. Martin Korčok, PhD.

5. Sobibor – unknown history – the lecturer: M. A. Michal Vaněk, PhD.

PhDr. Martin Korčok, PhD., chairman of The Roma Genocide Commission of The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), will be the guarantee of the series of the lectures.