Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Gifhorn, Germany
About Johann Trollmann
- Johann Wilhelm "Rukeli" Trollmann (27 December 1907 – 9 February 1943) was a German Sinto boxer.Trollmann became famous in the late 1920s.
- On 9 June 1933, he fought for the German light-heavyweight title and although he clearly led by points over his opponent Adolf Witt, the fight was judged "no result".
- The audience rebelled, and the Nazi officials were forced to acknowledge Trollmann as the victor.
- Six days later, however, he was again stripped of the title.
- A new fight was scheduled for 21 July, with Gustav Eder as Trollmann's opponent.
- Trollmann was threatened that he had to change his "dancing" style or lose his licence.
- Trollmann, of Sinti heritage, arrived the day of the match with his hair dyed blonde 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 persecution of Sinti and Roma in Germany dramatically increased in the following years.
- Sterilization often preceded their internment in concentration camps, and Trollmann too underwent this operation.
- In 1939 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht, and fought on the eastern front.
- He was wounded in 1941 and was returned to Germany as a result.
- The Gestapo arrested him in June 1942, and he was interned in Neuengamme concentration camp.
- He tried to keep a low profile, but the camp commandant had been a boxing official before the war and recognized Trollmann.
- He used Trollman as a trainer for his troops during the nights.
- The prisoners committee decided to act, as Trollman's health deteriorated.
- They faked his death and managed to get him transferred to the adjacent camp of Wittenberge under an assumed identity.
- The former star was soon recognized and the prisoners organized a fight between him and Emil Cornelius, a former criminal and hated Kapo (a prisoner given privileges for taking on responsibilities in the camp, often a convict working for a reduced sentence or parole).
- Inevitably Trollmann won.
- Cornelius soon 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 35 years old.
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