Yakov Punkin at the age of 19 went to the front already in the status of a promising athlete. Being from a Jewish family, he went through all the horror of German concentration camps, posing as a Muslim Ossetian. After the war, he became one of the best wrestlers in the country and won the Olympics. The incredible story of the Soviet champion — in the material Sport.
Yakov was born in 1921 in Zaporozhye. The father instilled a love for sports in the boy. After working at the local port, he took up wrestling. Punkin Sr. even won a tournament as part of the Ekaterinoslav Provincial Spartakiad.
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"He was a port loader. On a bet, for fun, he could crawl under the horse and pick it up. And in street fights without rules, he put any docker on the shoulder blades, «Punkin recalled his father.
After seven classes of school, Yakov got a job as a turner at a factory. At the same time, he enrolled in the wrestling section. Already at the age of 17, Punkin entered the list of the best athletes in the Dnepropetrovsk region. By the age of 19, the wrestler managed to win the championship and finish the Kyiv school of coaches. Career developed rapidly.However, in April 1941, the athlete was drafted into the army. When the Great Patriotic War began, Punkin did not even have time to master the basics of military training. At the front, Yakov suffered almost immediately — he received a concussion and was captured. It was a miracle to escape. Unfortunately, very soon the champion got caught again and went to the Meppen concentration camp. The first in a long list.
Upon arrival, Yakov and hundreds of such prisoners were lined up. The German officer ordered the communists, officers and Jews to come forward. Punkin remained in service and saved his life. All those who came out were shot. The following years, the wrestler pretended to be a Muslim Ossetian and was afraid of reprisals for lying.
After working at the Meppen quarries, Yakov was transferred to the Fulin concentration camp. The camp conditions could not stand even the good health of the wrestler. Punkin fell ill with typhus and got out only thanks to the support of other prisoners.
Later, Yakov ended up in a concentration camp near Osnabrück. Almost until the end of the war, the athlete was engaged in agricultural work. Punkin spent the entire war in captivity. After that very successful attempt, he tried to escape twice more. Both times — unsuccessfully.In April 1945, Allied forces liberated Camp Mennen. It was there that Jacob was at that time. American soldiers handed over the fighter to the Soviet army. Punkin weighed only 36 kilograms and looked like a teenager.
The guy was sent to the hospital for rehabilitation. The doctor gave a disappointing conclusion:
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«You will live, Punkin, but never sport!»
Of course, the doctor did not know who is dealing. A few months later, Punkin returned to the army! From 1945 to 1948 he served in Germany, where he resumed wrestling.Returning to his native Zaporozhye, Yakov worked as a coach and continued his sports career. In 1949, Punkin won the USSR championship in Greco-Roman wrestling for the first time. By the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, he was already a three-time winner of the national championship.
However, Jacob did not meet the main obstacle on the way to gold in the arena. Shortly before the start of the Olympics, the MGB (in the future — the KGB) received a denunciation. The wrestler was accused of alcoholism and a riotous lifestyle. Fortunately, the party leadership did not believe in these rumors and released Punkin to Helsinki.
The wrestler won all the fights, three of them — on the carcass. Journalists and judges were delighted with Punkin's technique, especially the «screw» (deflection throw). After the concussion, the athlete suffered from a nervous tic: his shoulder and part of his face twitched. «Lack» Yakov turned into an advantage. The opponents simply could not understand which way the movement would go.
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«I'm not afraid on the carpet, I control myself, but in general I used up the entire limit of fear in concentration camps,» — this is how Punkin described the technique during fights.
In decisive fights, the wrestler defeated the Hungarian Imre Poyak and the Egyptian Abdel Ahmed Al-Rashid, who were considered favorites. One of the Finnish newspapers did not hide the delight from the performance of the Soviet athlete:
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"It is hard to believe that a person with such a perfect wrestling technique, demonstrating the height of calmness and self-control, could endure such difficult trials in life»
For the triumph at the Olympics, Punkin was awarded the title of «Honored Master of Sports of the USSR». After the Games, he won the national championship twice more, and then concentrated on coaching and refereeing. The famous wrestler died in 1994. Initially, the athlete was buried on the outskirts of the Pervomaisky cemetery in Zaporozhye. After the indignation of Punkin's students, the body of the Olympic champion was transferred to the central alley.