Albert Wolff (July 13, 1906 – June 14, 1989) was an American Olympic foil and épée fencer. Wolff was born in Barr, Bas-Rhin, France, and was Jewish.Bob Wechsler. Day by Day in Jewish Sports HistoryRichard D. Mandell. The Nazi OlympicsPaul Taylor. Jews and the Olympic Games: the clash between sport and politics : with a complete review of Jewish Olympic medallists He later lived in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States.Wolff, Albert – Museum Of American FencingCollier's ... Year Book Covering the Year ..., P.F. Collier & Son., 1961.
Biography Wolff qualified for the French Olympic Team but boycotted the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, withdrawing from France's national team on principle because he was a Jew.David Clay Large. Nazi Games: The Olympics of 1936 He said: "I cannot participate in anything sponsored by Adolf Hitler, even for France."29 October 1948 Jewish Post.
He fought in the French Army during World War II, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre by France for bravery during fierce fighting on the Maginot Line. The Germans captured him and put him in a Jewish war camp. Wolff escaped, and made it to Portugal, and then to the United States in 1941. He joined the US Army, and returned to Europe, fighting the Germans.
After the war was over, he petitioned the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) to allow him to fence in the US National Fencing Championships. He was AFLA individual national épée champion in 1946.
He competed for the United States at the age of 42 in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in individual and team épée, and at the age of 46 in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki in team épée. His fencing club was the Louisville Fencers.
In 1948, he was Athlete of the Year in Kentucky. He won a gold medal in team foil, and a silver medal in team épée, at the 1951 Pan American Games.
Wolff died in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the age of 82.
See also List of USFA Division I National Champions
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