Johann Trollmann


Johann Wilhelm "Rukeli"' Trollmann' was a German Sinti boxer.

Early life

Trollmann was born in, a village part of Gifhorn, into a poor Protestant family. His father, Wilhelm "Schnipplo" Trollmann, was an ethnic German umbrella maker and part-time musician, while his mother, Friederike "Pessy" Weiss, was of Sinti origin. He had eight siblings: his three sisters Maria, Anna, and Wilhelmine, and five brothers Wilhelm, Ferdinand, Julius, Albert, and Heinrich. The family moved to Hanover, settling in the borough Ricklingen, in the early 1910s. Trollmann attended the local Volksschule until third grade.
Trollmann picked up boxing when he was a child and had his first amateur match at eight years old. He was called "Rukeli" by other Sinti, derived from the Romani word for tree, for his upright stance. Trollmann's youngest brothers, Albert and Heinrich, also boxed in their private time.
Although the family had kept close ties to the Roma community, the Trollmanns were regarded as assimilated. Trollmann's father had served in Braunschweig's water police during World War I while the family of his mother had long abandoned their itinerant lifestyle.

Career

Amateur boxing

Boxing as a sport had been severely limited during the German Empire, with outright bans in some regions. Training and professional matches became openly accessible in 1919 with the founding of the Weimar Republic. Trollmann entered the boxing scene in the early 1920s. He won the regional title of Hanover district's boxing championship four times in a row and became a member of the BC Heros Eintracht in 1922, thus joining the Deutsche Reichsverband für Amateur-Boxen. Trollmann became famous in the mid-1920s for winning the North-German amateur boxing championship.
With the rising popularity of boxing, Trollmann entered officially held matches as a middleweight by 1924. His looks made him popular with the audience, earning him compliments by both women and men during matches and dedicated columns in newspapers in his hometown. He was well-received for his distinct boxing style, which was compared to dance for Trollmann's quick and agile moves. Trollmann's critics primarily focused on his Romani heritage and mocked his technique as "un-German", with some newspapers derisively nicknaming him "the Dancing Gypsy" or just "Gipsy/Gibsy".
Trollmann sought to join the German national boxing team for the 1928 Summer Olympics, but was barred by officials, officially for "inedequate performance". For the middleweight class, the committee instead selected Walter Cunow, who had been previously defeated by Trollmann several times; Cunow himself would be replaced by Albert Leidmann. It has since been suspected that Trollmann's rejection was related to the Weimar government's unwillingness to be represented by a Sinto at the event.

Professional boxing

In June 1929, Trollmann left the BC Heros Eintracht and joined BC Sparta Linden, primarily made up of athletes with working class backgrounds, to focus on national competitions in professional sports. From then, he lived primarily in Berlin, being coached by Ernst Zirzow. Travelling throughout Germany, Trollmann fought against opponents, both German and foreign, in the welterweight to heavyweight classes.

Interference by the Nazi government

Following Adolf Hitler's rise to power in January 1933, the Nazi government officially renamed boxing to "German fistfighting" and declared the sport as an integral part of the effort to create a "defensible Volkskörper". The following month, DRfAB was restructured into Deutscher Amateur-Boxverband, part of the newly established centralised boxing association Verband Deutscher Faustkämpfer, under chairman Georg Radamm, a long-time member of the Nazi Party. The change led to informal discrimination against athletes with non-German or mixed ethnic backgrounds. Trollmann's family had been largely conservative, with Trollmann's eldest brother Wilhelm joining the SA in 1933, but he was ousted the same year for being Roma.
On 9 June 1933, Trollmann fought for the German light-heavyweight title against Adolf Witt, in a highly publicised match attended by Nazi officials, including VDF chairman Radamm. Aware that Trollmann was likely to win, which would call the Nazi government's professed superiority of the German "Aryans" into question, Radamm had instructed the jury to judge "no result" and although Trollmann clearly led by points over the course of six rounds, the jury obeyed Radamm's instructions. The audience rebelled and after thirty minutes, the jury acknowledged Trollmann as the victor.
However, six days later he was stripped of the title, with a VDF letter stating that both fighters had "performed inadequately" and that Trollmann had shown "unsportsmanlike behaviour" by crying tears of joy while receiving the trophy belt. A new fight was scheduled for 21 July, with runner-up, a heavyweight, as Trollmann's opponent. Trollmann was threatened that he had to change his "dancing" style or lose his licence. Trollmann arrived the day of the match with his hair dyed blond and his face whitened with flour, the caricature of an Aryan. He took the blows of his opponent as he was asked for five rounds before he collapsed. The defeat signalled his permanent expulsion from professional boxing, with his licence being revoked in the following autumn, but this did nothing to dismantle his popular image. To avoid further issues with Nazi officials, Trollmann briefly went into hiding in the region around Teutoburg Forest.
Between 1933 and 1935, Trollmann continued to earn a living as a boxer at carnivals and other small-scale events. He resided in Berlin-Charlottenburg with his girlfriend Olga Frieda Bilda, having a daughter, Rita, in March 1935. The couple married on 1 June 1935.

Detention

In July 1935, Trollmann was detained at following a forced sterilisation order. With the introduction of the Nuremberg Laws in September 1935, the persecution of Sinti and Roma in Germany dramatically increased. Trollmann was labelled "feeble-minded since birth" and forcibly sterilised 23 December 1935, as part of Nazi eugenics efforts targeting ethnic minorities. In September 1938, Trollmann divorced from his wife in hopes of covering for his daughter who, under the Nuremberg Laws, would be judged a Mischling for being half-Sintiza.
By 1938, Trollmann had been transferred to Hannover-Ahlem subcamp, but was released the same year. In November 1939 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht as an infantryman. He was stationed in occupied France, Belgium during World War II|Belgium], and Poland, where he was wounded in June 1941 during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, being returned to Germany as a result; he was officially discharged in early 1942, when Sinti and Roma were banned from serving in the military.
The Gestapo arrested Trollmann in June 1942 while in Hanover. He was tortured during custody at the city's branch office of the and in October of the same year, he was interned Neuengamme concentration camp in Hamburg. He tried to keep a low profile, but was recognized by Schutzhaftlagerführer, who had been a boxing official before the war. He used Trollmann as a trainer for his troops during the nights in exchange for a slice of buttered bread for each time Trollmann was knocked out. Having already lost 30 kg before arriving in Neuengamme, the spars were treated as leisure by the SS guards and regularly devolved into beatdowns, causing Trollmann's health to deteriorate further. After three months, the prisoners committee decided to act and faked Trollmann's death on 9 February 1943, being listed in the camp book as having died of pneumonia compounded by vascular disease. His family received an urn, which was buried at Anger Cemetery in Hanover. In reality, the committee had managed to get him transferred to the Wittenberge satellite camp under an assumed identity.

Death

By spring 1944, the former star was again recognised and the camp elders organized a fight between him and Emil Cornelius, a former criminal and hated "Heu" commando Kapo. Trollmann won, Cornelius sought revenge for his humiliation and forced Trollmann to work all day until he was exhausted, before attacking and killing him with a shovel. Trollmann was 36 years old. According to fellow Sinto internee Rudolf Landsberger, the SS covered up the death as an accident and buried Trollmann in a forest outside the town cemetery.
Two of Trollmann's brothers also died as a result of the Romani Holocaust: his youngest brother Heinrich, who had also been a communist, died in Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943, while another brother, Julius, died in 1958 from long-term health effects of his imprisonment, having been rendered paraplegic from severe beatings at a hard labour camp.

Rehabilitation and commemoration

In 2003, the officially recognised Trollmann as the winner of the 1933 championship.
On 9 June 2010, the anniversary of his championship fight, the German artist collective Bewegung Nurr erected a temporary memorial "9841" in the Berlin Victoria Park to honour Trollmann. The memorial was also displayed the following year in Hannover and in Dresden in 2012 for six weeks. The title refers to Trollmann's prison number.
In 2015, the Italian alternative rock band C.F.F. e il Nomade Venerabile released the song Come fiori dedicated to Trollmann. This song was the inspiration for the theathral show My Inverno... gypsy life which opened the X edition of the International TeatroLab Festival at the Tagliavini theatre in Novellara in March 2019.
In 2016, Dario Fo, recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature, published the book Razza di zingaro based on Trollmann's life.
In 2022, the German television series Babylon Berlin season four, a fictional version of Trollmann is portrayed by Hannes Wegener and is revealed to be the half-brother of one of the series' leads, Lotte Ritter. A fight takes place between Trollman and Willy Bolze, who in real life was Trollman's first professional boxing opponent. The dates are different in the show with their fight taking place in 1931 instead of 1929.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes
64Loss31–19–14Arthur PolterPTS8Mar 12, 1934Palmengarten, Leipzig, Gau Saxony, Nazi Germany
63Loss31–18–14Walter MüllerPTS6Mar 9, 1934Wilmersdorfer Tennishalle, Wilmersdorf, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
62Loss31–17–14Walter SabottkeKO6 Feb 9, 1934Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
61Loss31–16–14Rienus de BoerKO6 Dec 26, 1933Rheinlandhalle, Cologne, Gau Cologne-Aachen, Nazi Germany
60Loss31–15–14Walter SabottkePTS8Dec 3, 1933Flora Theater, Sternschanze, Gau Hamburg, Nazi Germany
59Loss31–14–14Erwin BruchTKO2 Nov 25, 1933Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
58Win31–13–14Gustav EybelPTS10Nov 5, 1933Flora Theater, Sternschanze, Gau Hamburg, Nazi Germany
57Loss30–13–14Franz BojaPTS8Oct 27, 1933Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
56Loss30–12–14Fred BoelckKO2 Oct 8, 1933Flora Theater, Sternschanze, Gau Hamburg, Nazi Germany
55Draw30–11–14Walter SabottkePTS8Sep 1, 1933Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
54Loss30–11–13Gustav EderKO5 Jul 21, 1933Bockbrauerei, Kreuzberg, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
53Win30–10–13Adolf WittPTS12Jun 9, 1933Bockbrauerei, Kreuzberg, Gau Berlin, Nazi GermanyWon German light heavyweight title
52Win29–10–13Otto KlockemannTKO2 May 26, 1933Konzerthaus, Hanover, Gau Eastern Hanover, Nazi Germany
51Loss28–10–13Gustave RothPTS10May 16, 1933Rubenspaleis, Antwerpen, Belgium
50Draw28–9–13Karl EggertPTS8Apr 28, 1933Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
49Draw28–9–12Walter EggertPTS8Apr 21, 1933Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
48Win28–9–11Johann FrabergerTKO9 Apr 12, 1933Konzert-Haus, Vienna, Austria
47Draw27–9–11Hans SeifriedPTS8Mar 31, 1933Neue Welt, Neukölln, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
46Win27–9–10Helmut HartkoppDQ3 Mar 12, 1933Flora Theater, Sternschanze, Gau Hamburg, Nazi Germany
45Win26–9–10Fred BoelckTKO2 Feb 26, 1933Flora Theater, Sternschanze, Gau Hamburg, Nazi Germany
44Draw25–9–10Claude BassinPTS10Feb 3, 1933Neue Welt, Neukölln, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
43Draw25–9–9Karl OgrenPTS8Jan 20, 1933Spichernsäle, Wilmdersdorf, Berlin, Germany
42Loss25–9–8Hein DomgörgenPTS8Dec 27, 1932Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
41Loss25–8–8Adolf WittPTS10Dec 11, 1932Flora Theater, Sternschanze, Hamburg, Germany
40Draw25–7–8Adolf WittPTS8Nov 27, 1932Flora Theater, Sternschanze, Hamburg, Germany
39Win25–7–7Julian van HoofTKO6 Nov 18, 1932Kristallpalast, Magdeburg, Germany
38Draw24–7–7Hein DomgörgenPTS8Nov 9, 1932Neue Welt, Neukölln, Berlin, Germany
37Win24–7–6Josef CzichosPTS8Oct 24, 1932Ausstellungshalle, Dresden, Germany
36Win23–7–6Rienus de BoerPTS8Oct 7, 1932Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
35Win22–7–6Onofrio RussoTKO2 Sep 15, 1932Neue Welt, Neukölln, Berlin, Germany
34Win21–7–6Karl OgrenPTS8Aug 5, 1932Bockbrauerei, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
33Win20–7–6Walter SabottkeKO2 Jul 19, 1932Saalbau Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany
32Loss19–7–6Eric SeeligPTS10Jun 3, 1932Bockbrauerei, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
31Win19–6–6Adolf WittPTS8May 9, 1932Ausstellungshalle, Dresden, Germany
30Win18–6–6Josef CzichosPTS6Mar 31, 1932Wilmersdorfer Tennishalle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
29Loss17–6–6Hans SeifriedPTS8Mar 12, 1932Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
28Loss17–5–6Claude BassinKO2 Mar 4, 1932Burghaus, Hannover, Germany
27Win17–4–6Rudi BeierTKO6 Feb 26, 1932Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
26Win16–4–6Heinrich BuchbaumPTS8Feb 5, 1932Kasino, Bremen, Germany
25Draw15–4–6Jack BeasleyPTS8Jan 29, 1932Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
24Win15–4–5Franz BojaPTS10Jan 15, 1932Burghaus, Hannover, Germany
23Loss14–4–5Erich TobeckPTS8Dec 27, 1931Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
22Win14–3–5Paul VogelPTS8Dec 11, 1931Wilmersdorfer Tennishalle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
21Draw13–3–5Otto HoelzlPTS8Nov 20, 1931Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
20Loss13–3–4Hein DomgörgenPTS8Apr 17, 1931Neue Welt, Neukölln, Berlin, Germany
19Draw13–2–4Franz KrueppelPTS8Mar 1, 1931Stadthalle, Hagen, Germany
18Loss13–2–3Erich TobeckPTS8Feb 13, 1931Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
17Win13–1–3Paul VogelPTS6Dec 5, 1930Sportpalast, Schöneberg, Berlin Germany
16Draw12–1–3Arie van VlietPTS10Nov 7, 1930Etablissement Sagebiel, Neustadt, Hamburg, Germany
15Draw12–1–2Otto HoelzlPTS8Oct 10, 1930Burghaus, Hannover, Germany
14Draw12–1–1Hein HeeserPTS8Sep 19, 1930Burghaus, Hannover, Germany
13Win12–1Emil KoskaPTS8Aug 29, 1930Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
12Win11–1Walter PeterPTS6Jul 27, 1930Lunapark, Halensee, Berlin, Germany
11Win10–1Paul VogelPTS6Jul 4, 1930Bockbrauerei, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
10Win9–1Franz KrueppelPTS8May 23, 1930Stadthalle, Barmen, Germany
9Win8–1Georg GebstedtKO4 May 2, 1930Burghaus, Hannover, Germany
8Win7–1Erwin StieglerPTS6Apr 12, 1930Schuetzenhof, Bochum, Germany
7Win6–1Walter PoehnischPTS8Feb 28, 1930Burghaus, Hannover, Germany
6Win5–1Hans ThiesTKO5 Feb 15, 1930Schuetzenhof, Bochum, Germany
5Loss4–1Erich TobeckKO1 Jan 10, 1930Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
4Win4–0Joseph EstevePTS8Jan 5, 1930Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany
3Win3–0Paul VogelKO2 Dec 27, 1929Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
2Win2–0Alex TomkowiakKO1 Dec 4, 1929Burghaus, Hannover, Germany
1Win1–0Willy BolzePTS4Oct 18, 1929Spichernsäle, Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany