Poddubny and Bolsheviks.
From the 1920s Poddubny bio, printed in Germany.
This material was kindly presented to me by my dear friend Mr. Cay Fabian of Germany.
“Im Jahre 1920 fiel Paddubny den jetzigen russischen Verhältnissen zum Opfer. Er besaß in Baltawa in der Ukraine eine große Dampfmühle. Bei einer Getreide-Requisition vom bolschewistischen Heere geriet er mit dem Führer derselben in Streit und Wortwechsel, diese erklärten ihn kurz als Antirevolutionär und stachen Paddubny mit dem Bajonett nieder.”
“In 1920 Paddubny fell victim to the current Russian conditions. He owned a large steam mill in Poltava, Ukraine. During a grain requisition by the Bolshevik army, he got into an argument and exchange of words with the leader of the same, who briefly declared him an anti-revolutionary and stabbed Paddubny with the bayonet. "
another interesting piece of info which comes from that book is about a traditional Ukrainian (Ruthenian as they were called in Austro-Hungarian Empire) wrestling styles, the Back-Hold and Collar-Hold. In either of these folk wrestling styles no tripping was allowed, and a physically strongest man was usually the winner. They also mention a popular Ukrainian hero called Kirilo Koschemjaka.
Unfortunately in any totalitarian state those with power can kill anyone and get away with it until someone with more power kills them!
I recently found out that Sulo Kokko from Finland was a victim of the Red Terror. But he likely only wrestled in the Canadian wilderness in the 1920s Post Scriptum for ruslan: the granddaughter of Roman Waniek wrote us, he was born in Orenburg in 1914. I guess he was a Mennonite
Was Circus Wrestling ever televised in the Soviet Union?