Early Years
Seelenbinder was born in Stettin, Pomerania, and became a wrestler after training as a joiner. He had connections with the young people's workers' movement from an early age. In 1928 and 1929 he won the Spartakiade in Moscow; over 200 German sportsmen were banned from the contest, but Seelenbinder, with his interest in Marxism, took part. His first trip to Moscow had already persuaded him to become a member of the German communist party, the KPD. In 1933 he refused to give the Hitler salute when receiving his medal at the German Wrestling Championship, and was rewarded with a sixteen-month ban on training and sports events.
German workers' sports clubs were soon banned by the Nazi party; at this point the KPD approached Seelenbinder, asking him to join one of the legal sports clubs, to train to get as much sporting success as possible, so he would be able to carry messages across Germany and into other countries. As one of the country's top sportsmen he had more freedom of movement and could travel abroad. As well as preparing for the Olympics, Seelenbinder joined the Uhrig Group, an underground resistance group named after Robert Uhrig, who organized it.
Read more about this topic: Werner Seelenbinder
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