John Slade (field hockey)


John Slade was born Hans Schlesinger in Frankfurt, Germany on May 30, 1908. According to Slade, his was a family of "highly assimilated Jews." He was expected to compete in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin but could not due to the Nuremberg Laws. Leaving Germany for New York, he was able to get a $15-a-week messenger job at the investment firm of Bear, Stearns. By 1940, he was working in risk arbitrage and had earned enough to bring his family to America. In 1942, he volunteered for the United States Army.