Size box: 8.2cm./3.2inch.
Size medal: 3.5cm./1.37inch.
Weight: 75gr./2.6oz.
 
Table medal made in the DDR with the image of Werner Seelenbinder.
Werner Seelenbinder (1904-1944) was a German communist and wrestler. In 1928 and 1929 he won the Spartakiad 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 Communist Party of Germany (KPD). In 1933 he refused to give the Nazi salute when receiving his medal at the German Wrestling Championship and was punished with a sixteen-month ban on training and sports events. As a committed communist Seelenbinder was appalled by the 1936 Olympic Games that were to be held in Nazi Germany. He had originally planned to boycott it, but friends persuaded him to compete anyway, win, and defy the Nazis by not giving the required Nazi salute, but to use a vulgar gesture instead. This plan was foiled when he lost the first match.
Seelenbinder’s illegal activities as a courier and his participation in the Uhrig Group had caught the attention: he was arrested, along with 65 other members of the group, on 4 February 1942 and after being tortured for eight days, and enduring nine camps and prisons for two and half years, he was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichtshof, he was executed for treason on 24 October 1944 at Brandenburg-Görden Prison. He was beheaded with an ax.