David Unreich - Jewish World and European Wrestling Champion
David was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia July 30, 1907 and died in 1957. As he was named after his grandfather David Issac Unreich and I was named after David, Zalman's oldest brother. David is the most well-known and world famous of all the siblings. He's recognized as the "wrestling champion who challenged Hitler". David and the rest of the Unreich brother’s were prize students of Rabbi Akiva Schreiber ("Da’at Sofer") 1878 - 1959 of the infamous Pressburg Yeshiva seminary school in Bratislava. David “Dufi” Unreich or also known as Ben Shalom, his professional wrestling name, won many professional heavyweight wrestling titles, including in 1935 the title of Jewish World Champion in the Maccabee in Palestine and the later won a European Championship in wrestling. He was married to Janice (born Levy) and had no children. David had an incredible personality who lit up a room and was well respected. He was recently honored on behalf of Slovak Maccabi Organization, announcing the award of David Unreich for the best free-style and Greco Roman wrestler, which was approved by the Israel Wrestling Federation. The Slovak National Museum honored David's life story through an exhibit that traveled to various United Nation Offices. Below is a brief audio summary of David's legacy from a radio interview with Michal Vanek, SNM Museum Deputy Director. Lastly, there's many newspaper articles about his famous wrestling matches, including in the United States Madison Square Gardens arena.
