"Straight and strong as a tree trunk." Those are the characteristics that led Johann Trollman, a gifted boxer from Hannover, Germany, to be given the nickname "Rukeli", which in the language of the German Roma and Sinti means "tree", while Nazism was still on the rise.
His life story has inspired the German theatrical director Rike Reiniger to produce the play "Gypsy Boxer". Why does it speak to people still today?
Trollman was born in 1907, had eight siblings, and began his training as an amateur boxer at the age of eight. When he turned 15 he won a regional championship and became a member of the Heros Hannover boxing club.
Rukeli excelled at a boxing technique that was uncommon at the time. He defeated his opponents not just with his dynamic, swift blows, but also involved his legs and circled around them - in the words of the future boxing visionary, Muhammad Ali, he "flew like a butterfly and stung like a bee".
This was the opposite of the boxing style that was predominant at the time, which appeared rather cumbersome in comparison. Thanks to his boxing gifts and specific technique, Rukeli, who also had the face of a Hollywood star, won the German championship in the middleweight category in 1933, beating Adolf Witt.
However, this meant that a champion of this sport, which was considered by Hitler to be one of the most "noble" of athletic disciplines and one in which the "Germanic soul" was said to display itself the most, was now a Romani man. From the perspective of the Nazi chiefs, that outcome of the match, which had gone 12 rounds, could not be allowed to stand without some kind of response, given Rukeli's origins.
The referees, therefore, despite the course of the match having been unambiguous, failed to declare Rukeli the victor. Of course, that sparked vocal disagreement from those spectators who were enthusiastic over his performance, and he eventually was awarded the title of champion of Germany.
