Ben Bril

Who was Ben Bril?

Barend Bril was a Dutch boxer.

Born in Amsterdam, he competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics at age 15 in his home town.

Four years later he was barred from the 1932 Summer Olympics because the Dutch Olympic Committee was led by a member of the Dutch Nazi party, and he boycotted the 1936 Games in Berlin.

Bril won the gold medal at the 1935 Maccabiah Games, and the Dutch title in his division eight times.

During the German occupation of the Netherlands, he was deported to Germany and interned at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Four of his brothers and a sister died in the concentration camps. All but one of the siblings were married with children. Ben Bril and his younger brother Herrie both survived the war. Herrie Bril died in Rotterdam on 6 August 1966.

Ben Bril and his wife Celia had one child Ab Ben, who lives in Zandvoort with his wife Wilma. Ab Ben and Wilma have one son, Benno, who also lives in Zandvoort.

Ben Bril died aged 91 in Amsterdam.

In October 2006 Ben Bril's biography by Ed van Opzeeland was published. It is called Ben Bril - Davidsster als Ereteken. The Dutch swimmer Erica Terpstra handed out the first copy of the book to Ben's son Albert Bril.