Celebrated as an outstanding athlete and best human being
Dr Hugo Plato
During his entire life, Dr Hugo Hermann Plato was highly respected – not only as a doctor. Nevertheless, we know very little about him. Hugo Plato was born in 1910 in Strasbourg. He studied in Cologne and Bern and finished in 1938. He worked as a doctor at the Jewish hospital in Cologne-Ehrenfeld, which opened in 1908, for about five years, from 1937 until 1942.
Not only was he a passionate doctor, but also a successful table tennis player and member of the JTV. Various contemporary witnesses from Cologne later recounted him and his skills.
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He impressed us so much. He sometimes played table tennis with us. He was like God to us. He was already a table tennis champion when he was still a student.
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The best human being was Hugo Plato.
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He was an excellent person.
On 22 June 1943, Hugo Plato and his wife Liesel were deported to Theresienstadt from the lager in Cologne-Müngersdorf. Even in Theresienstadt, he continued playing table tennis – especially with children who looked up to him in admiration. Hugo Plato was later murdered in Auschwitz. Liesel Plato survived the Shoah and emigrated to the USA.