Leo Goldstein (Hebrew: לאו גולדשטיין) was an American-Israeli association football referee who survived the Holocaust thanks to his expertise in the rules of soccer.[1]
Leo Goldstein was a Polish-born Jew. He was deported to Auschwitz and was condemned to the gas chambers but was suddenly pulled aside by an SS guard who claimed to be a German international soccer player. He was ordered to return to the barracks and serve as a referee in soccer games between soldiers and guards at Auschwitz and nearby camps.[2]
After the war he immigrated to Israel, but eventually settled in New York, where he worked as a taxi driver and a referee of soccer games in the Bowery.[3]
Goldstein refereed for the American Soccer League in the 1950s and 1960s,[4] before becoming a FIFA international referee between 1959 and 1967.[4] Goldstein was active as an assistant referee at FIFA World Cups,[1] officiating the Hungary-England[5] and Chile-Italy[6] matches in the group stages in 1962. He also officiated in the 1959 Pan American Games[7] and 1962 World Cup qualifiers.[8]
Goldstein is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum.[4]