The Mighty Atom – Joseph Greenstein (8 photos + 1 video)

Proving to the world that you are worth something is more difficult if nature has not endowed you with considerable height. But this man proved that the connection between him and the force - body and spirit - is not so necessary.





Some call him the last great circus strongman, but perhaps the greatest strongman would be more accurate.



Yossel Leib Grinstein was born three months prematurely on July 15, 1893 in the Polish city of Suwalki into the poorest family. The baby weighed less than 2 kilograms, but Yossel Greenstein was lucky to survive infancy. His early challenges certainly hardened his resolve and resilience. For most of his childhood, the boy's physique was frail and his body weak. As a teenager, his height did not exceed 165 centimeters, which is quite short for guys. But Joe had tremendous determination and determination.





When the young man was fourteen years old, the Isakov brothers’ circus came to the city, and Greenstein saw a poster of the champion strongman Volanko. He was immediately attracted by the spectacular giant and his exploits depicted on the poster. Without money to watch the performance, the teenager tried to sneak inside. He was caught, beaten thoroughly and left on the street to practically die. The boy tried to crawl home. He didn't get far before he ran into the champion Volanko himself.

Volanko took pity on the boy and immediately showed concern for him. After a long conversation, he offered to show Greenstein how to eat right, exercise, and use his determination to overcome physical limitations. He accepted the offer and immediately joined Volanko on tour.



Less than two years later, Joseph was now a man carved from stone. His body became as hard as his determination.

Greenstein began his career as a wrestler. Shortly after marrying a girl named Leah, and faced with growing anti-Semitism, Greenstein immigrated to the United States, where he worked as a stevedore and did some fighting.



It was in the States that Greenstein and the legend of the Mighty Atom took on real shape. In 1914, Greenstein was shot in the head in Galveston, Texas. That same day, he left the hospital, confident that his physical training saved his life: the bullet literally flattened against the skull, without causing much harm to the man. Deciding to show the world the wonders of his lifestyle, Greenstein began a professional career as a strongman.



The Mighty Atom could break chains with his hands and expand his chest so that the chain tied around his body burst. It is known that he could bend iron bars or horseshoes with his teeth. He often bent steel bars into heart shapes and drove nails into wood with his bare hands.

He literally bit through nails with his teeth. Once tied his hair to a plane and pinned it to the ground when it tried to take off. On September 29, 1928, newspaper headlines announced to the world: “The Mighty Atom – Super-Strong Man Confronts the Airplane and Wins!”



The Mighty Atom was a truly strong man, and his greatest fame was brought to him by his fight against intolerance.

In 1936, he sent six violent longshoremen to the hospital after a fight. This story made the front pages of many New York newspapers. The headline read, "Little Giant Knocks Out Six." In 1938, again in New York, the Mighty Atom tore off the “No Dogs or Jews Allowed” sign from the front of one of the buildings. In the ensuing fight, the Mighty Atom wounded 20 people to varying degrees. He was arrested for this incident. But they released him: the court simply refused to believe that this was the work of one person.

During World War II, the Mighty Atom volunteered for Uncle Sam's Bond. He demonstrated his strength by pulling a truck full of passengers and sold hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonds.

The Mighty Atom helped recruit police officers in New York free of charge. For two years he traveled around the city giving demonstrations in jiu-jitsu, judo and wrestling to get people interested and willing to join.join the ranks of the police. For his efforts, he received a certificate from the mayor.



Grinstein continued performing almost until the end of his life. In his last public appearance on May 11, 1977, the Mighty Atom took the stage at Madison Square Garden wearing a leather vest with a gold Star of David. Stunning the audience by the fact that at such a respectable age he had retained such an impressive form, the powerful old man, to the delight of the audience, bent horseshoes and drove in pegs with his hands. Mighty Atom dedicated his last performance to the first birthday of his great-grandson.

On October 8, 1977, Yossel Greenstein died of cancer at the age of 84. He remains one of the strongest men in the world by size and has become the prototype for many popular comic book heroes.