A Polish Jewish strongman, often cited as the inspiration behind Superman, is to be honored with his own statue a century after his death.
Born in 1893 in Stryków, just outside the central Polish city of Łódź, Zishe Breitbart displayed extraordinary strength from a young age—according to one biography, his family first became aware of his superhuman strength when the three-year-old Breitbart was able to free himself from a heavy iron bar that had fallen on his chest.
Although his formative years were spent helping out in his father’s blacksmith’s workshop, it was the traveling circuses that would sometimes pass through his town that electrified Breitbart.
In the best traditions of entertainment, he ran away in his teens to join a Jewish circus troupe where he cut his teeth wrestling and lifting weights.
Soon enough, his routine would become more colorful and daring—among his earlier feats, Breitbart is said to have specialized in fighting bears, biting through blacksmith’s hoops and having stone slabs smashed on his chest with steel hammers.
Although his formative years were spent helping out in his father’s blacksmith’s workshop, it was the traveling circuses that would sometimes pass through his town that electrified Breitbart.
In the best traditions of entertainment, he ran away in his teens to join a Jewish circus troupe where he cut his teeth wrestling and lifting weights.
Soon enough, his routine would become more colorful and daring—among his earlier feats, Breitbart is said to have specialized in fighting bears, biting through blacksmith’s hoops and having stone slabs smashed on his chest with steel hammers.
The arrival of WWI saw him drafted into the Tsar’s army, though much of Breitbart’s war remains murky in its detail—according to some sources, he escaped German captivity only to later be recaptured and held in Berlin.
What is accepted as fact is his post-war life. He remained in Germany after the Armistice and worked as a street performer in various markets, earning his big break in 1919 when the director of the famed Circus Busch spotted him in Bremen.
Nicknamed ‘The Strongest Man in the World’ and ‘The Iron King,’ his performances with the circus frequently bordered on the bizarre.
What is accepted as fact is his post-war life. He remained in Germany after the Armistice and worked as a street performer in various markets, earning his big break in 1919 when the director of the famed Circus Busch spotted him in Bremen.
Nicknamed ‘The Strongest Man in the World’ and ‘The Iron King,’ his performances with the circus frequently bordered on the bizarre.
Chewing coins, biting through chains and bending iron bars were merely bland starters, for among Breitbart's more absurd acts was a routine known as the Tomb of Hercules.
For this, he would use his chest to support a wooden bridge over which his assistants would lead lines of bulls, horses and elephants.
His other headline stunts were equally preposterous, with one seeing a motordrome mounted on his body in which two motorcyclists would then chase each other in circles.
For this, he would use his chest to support a wooden bridge over which his assistants would lead lines of bulls, horses and elephants.
His other headline stunts were equally preposterous, with one seeing a motordrome mounted on his body in which two motorcyclists would then chase each other in circles.
In another, Breitbart would climb a ladder while holding a baby elephant in his arms—something that some would perceive as being mundane, were it not for the three men dangling from the locomotive wheel gripped between his teeth.
Capers such as these won him a huge following, and when Breitbart toured America in 1923 and 1924, crowds at performances are said to have peaked at 85,000. His weekly earnings amounted to $7,000, a simply staggering amount for the time.
Capers such as these won him a huge following, and when Breitbart toured America in 1923 and 1924, crowds at performances are said to have peaked at 85,000. His weekly earnings amounted to $7,000, a simply staggering amount for the time.
While Breitbart was already widely celebrated across Europe, the American tour saw his fame reach stratospheric levels, prompting the Stryków strongman to author a bodybuilding handbook titled Muscular Power, start a mail-order fitness catalog, and put his name to the Breitbart Apparatus, an exercise contraption with vague similarities to a Pilates Magic Circle.
Moreover, his American tour is said to have inspired Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel to create Superman just over a decade later.
According to some testimonies, during Breitbart’s American stays he was commonly addressed as Superman, and it is impossible to conceive that either Schuster or Siegel were unaware of what was commonly billed as being Breitbart’s “the Superman of the Ages” tour.
Moreover, his American tour is said to have inspired Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel to create Superman just over a decade later.
According to some testimonies, during Breitbart’s American stays he was commonly addressed as Superman, and it is impossible to conceive that either Schuster or Siegel were unaware of what was commonly billed as being Breitbart’s “the Superman of the Ages” tour.
Superman was but one of many monikers, however; as a proud Zionist, Breitbart never hid his Jewish ethnicity and was known among his staunch Jewish fanbase as “the Modern Samson” and “Samson the Mighty.”
“While most middle-class Central European Jews recoiled from sensationalist public spectacles, Breitbart’s most devoted fans were among the Yiddish-speaking Jews of Eastern Europe, for whom he was a genuine folk hero,” wrote scholar Sharon Gillerman.
“In his bulk and brawn, many East European Jews saw a potent response to ever-growing threats of antisemitic attacks. A popular Yiddish saying maintained, ‘If a thousand Breitbarts were to arise among the Jews, the Jewish people would cease being persecuted’,” she added.
“While most middle-class Central European Jews recoiled from sensationalist public spectacles, Breitbart’s most devoted fans were among the Yiddish-speaking Jews of Eastern Europe, for whom he was a genuine folk hero,” wrote scholar Sharon Gillerman.
“In his bulk and brawn, many East European Jews saw a potent response to ever-growing threats of antisemitic attacks. A popular Yiddish saying maintained, ‘If a thousand Breitbarts were to arise among the Jews, the Jewish people would cease being persecuted’,” she added.
Though granted American citizenship in 1923, he maintained close ties with Europe, serving as the president of the Maccabi Berlin Sports Federation and returning to the Old Continent to tour.
Visiting his homeland to perform, he entered one Warsaw stage on a chariot painted with the Star of David. On the same tour, he donated earnings from a show in Lublin to a local Jewish hospital.
Given Breitbart’s superhuman abilities, it is distinctly ironic that his death was brought about by something as insignificant as a nail. During a show in Radom, he drove a five-inch nail so far through a wooden board that it pierced his leg.
Contracting sepsis, both his legs were amputated in a bid to curb the infection, but even this did not prove enough. Enduring ten operations in all, the seemingly invincible Breitbart died in agony eight weeks later, on October 12th, 1925.
Visiting his homeland to perform, he entered one Warsaw stage on a chariot painted with the Star of David. On the same tour, he donated earnings from a show in Lublin to a local Jewish hospital.
Given Breitbart’s superhuman abilities, it is distinctly ironic that his death was brought about by something as insignificant as a nail. During a show in Radom, he drove a five-inch nail so far through a wooden board that it pierced his leg.
Contracting sepsis, both his legs were amputated in a bid to curb the infection, but even this did not prove enough. Enduring ten operations in all, the seemingly invincible Breitbart died in agony eight weeks later, on October 12th, 1925.
It is 100 years from this date that the statue in Stryków will be unveiled, with the monument set to be designed by students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź.
Speaking to the Polish Press Agency, the Mayor of Stryków, Piotr Ślęzak, said that the town was proud that “a global pop culture icon hailed from a small town in Poland.”
He added: “He became a role model for the authors of the Superman comic book, and he was also a good man that did a lot of charity work... Thanks to him, we hope that Stryków can be known as something other than a highway intersection.”
Yet beyond this, the monument also promises to be a homecoming of sorts—buried in Berlin following his death, the creation of the Stryków statue will see Breitbart finally return to the town of his birth.
Speaking to the Polish Press Agency, the Mayor of Stryków, Piotr Ślęzak, said that the town was proud that “a global pop culture icon hailed from a small town in Poland.”
He added: “He became a role model for the authors of the Superman comic book, and he was also a good man that did a lot of charity work... Thanks to him, we hope that Stryków can be known as something other than a highway intersection.”
Yet beyond this, the monument also promises to be a homecoming of sorts—buried in Berlin following his death, the creation of the Stryków statue will see Breitbart finally return to the town of his birth.
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