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How Joe Greenstein, a scrawny Polish Jew, became one of the greatest strongmen of the 20th century.
His stage name was “The Mighty Atom”. He was just five feet four (1.63 meters) and weighed 145 pounds (66 kilograms), but Joe Greenstein was strong enough to pull 30-ton trucks and hold back an airplane with his hair, chew iron chains and coins in half, crush steel bars and drive nails through wood boards with his bare hands, and flatten a bullet with his skull.
Yoselle (Joe) Greenstein was born to a Jewish family in Suwalki, Poland in 1893. Suwalki had a vibrant Jewish community with a Yiddish and Hebrew press, established synagogues, schools, and charitable organizations. The Jewish community was involved in trade, crafts, and small businesses as skilled shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths, locksmiths, and tinsmiths
Joe wasn’t blessed with good health from birth. He weighed under four pounds when he was born six weeks prematurely. His mother Chaya Greenstein fed him with an eye dropper, and he was so sickly and weak that doctors didn’t expect him to survive infancy.
As a child, he suffered assorted respiratory maladies and then a serious bout with tuberculosis nearly took his life in 1907 when he was 14.
Later that year, Greenstein saw a poster for the Issakoff Brothers' Traveling Circus featuring a handlebar mustachioed Russian Jewish circus strongman named Champion Volanko. Young Greenstein couldn’t afford the admission cost to get into the circus and was beaten to a pulp and dumped in the street when he tried to sneak in.
In a life changing series of events, Volanko took pity on the scrawny young man he found crawling down the street. Volanko brought him back to his trailer and soon was mentoring and training Joe in physical fitness and strength development. Joe learned how to eat better, train vigorously and adopt a mindset and belief in self-betterment. Joe never returned home and under Volanko’s tutelage he embarked on a two-year mission to harden his body and become powerful in his own right. He traveled with the circus across Russia, Central Asia, and India for about a year and a half mastering strength training and honing his physical prowess.
In 1910, rising antisemitism in Eastern Europe led him to the U.S where he settled in Galveston, Texas and spent time as an oil field and dock worker. In his spare time, he earned extra money as the professional wrestler “Kid Greenstein”. He showcased his Jewish heritage with pride by wearing a wrestling singlet adorned with a Magen David (Star of David) on its shoulder strap during his performances.
He married Leah Doneger in 1911 and the marriage lasted 60 years and they had ten children. Leah was quite attractive, and one of Joe’s Galveston co-workers became so infatuated with her, he thought that eliminating Joe would clear the way for his amorous advances. He brought a .38 revolver to work one day in 1914 and shot Joe point blank in the head. The bullet flattened against Joe’s skull (although some accounts say it ricocheted) and he was released from a hospital a few hours after he was admitted.
In 1914, Joe and Leah moved to New York where Joe became a star on Coney Island. He was billed as “The Mighty Atom” and advertised as one of the strongest men on earth.
Performing his strongman feats for cash, the Mighty Atom attracted vast crowds to witness his incredible displays of strength. He could drive nails through sheet metal with his bare hands, change a car tire without tools, bend bars with his teeth, bite through steel chains and quarters, and unbend horseshoes by pushing them against his forehead.
His stunts became more and more amazing. In 1928 he attached a Fairchild aircraft to his hair with a steel chain, then held the plane at bay while the pilot revved up the engine and attempted takeoff. In the 1930s, he lay on a bed of nails, placed a plank across his body, and stayed perfectly still while a full-size Dixieland band played show tunes on his chest.
In 1936, six inebriated longshoremen ambushed him in an alley and stabbed him. Joe tossed a few of them through a storefront window and rendered five of his assailants unconscious. This beating made front page news; a headline proclaimed, “Little Giant Knocks Out Six’.
One of Joe’s most legendary exploits was in 1939 when he walked by an American Nazi Party gathering and saw a “No Dogs or Jews Allowed” sign on their building. The Mighty Atom ripped down the sign and tore it in half with his bare hands. Twenty men came pouring out of the building to retaliate, having no idea they were going up against one of the world’s strongest men.
Joe whipped them all, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, grievous bodily harm, and mass mayhem. The judge looked at his courtroom and saw one very small man and 18 bandaged, bloodied, and beat-up witnesses. Even more perplexing, there were additional names on the complaint who were not in the courtroom – some of the American Nazis were still hospitalized.
When the judge asked Greenstein about the fight, he replied, “It wasn’t a fight, your honor. It was a pleasure!” After the court learned that the mob initiated the violence, the case was dismissed as self-defense.
During World War II, The Mighty Atom performed strongman feats to raise money for War Bonds, aiding the fight against Hitler and the Nazis. He showcased his incredible strength by pulling a truck loaded with passengers, successfully selling hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of bonds.
When not on tour, Greenstein volunteered for the NYPD, recruiting new officers to strengthen the department. He also conducted jujitsu, wrestling, and judo classes for the NYPD, establishing one of the first martial arts training programs in American law enforcement history. For his contributions, he received a commendation from Mayor LaGuardia.
Even well into his eighties, Joe Greenstein continued to captivate audiences with his extraordinary feats of strength. On May 11, 1977, he made his final public appearance at a sold-out Madison Square Garden, wearing a leather vest adorned with a golden Star of David. Despite his age, he amazed the crowd by bending horseshoes and driving spikes with his bare hands. At the end of his performance, he took a moment to wish his great-grandchild a happy first birthday, leaving the audience with a heartwarming and unforgettable memory.
He appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records and at one time had five entries in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Joe established a line of health care products and sold them from the back of his van.
He passed away on October 8, 1977, at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn. He was 84 years old. His wife, Leah, predeceased Joe, but he was survived by four daughters, four sons, 24 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren.
Greenstein's legacy as a strongman and his Jewish heritage are still honored today, with his remarkable story being showcased in documentaries and books.
Author Ed Spielman wrote a biography of Joe in 1979. The Mighty Atom: The Life and Times of Joseph L. Greenstein was a best seller. Joe’s life was also celebrated in a 2017 film documentary “The Mighty Atom”. That movie pops up occasionally at Jewish film festivals. There are dozens of YouTube entries and websites spotlighting Joe.
He was an advocate for vegetarian diets, which was fairly unusual for his times, and he lectured that fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains could solely provide the necessary nutrients for vitality and strength.
Joe Greenstein’s legacy is more than just a man breaking chains or bending bars. He is remembered as a pioneering human spirit and a patriotic Jew who taught us what we can achieve when challenged beyond normal limits.
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Fantastic article, Mr Rich! I read the book by Ed Spielman a number of years ago and enjoyed it immensely! Mr. Greenstein was truly a Kiddiuh Hashem!
Apologies for the typo, I meant "Kiddush Hashem"
No apology needed, Bob. Thanks for the compliment.
Great story! I remember hearing of the Mighty Atom as a boy growing up in the 1950s. And, always enjoy learning about historic Jewish athletes, from the Mighty Atom to Hank Greenberg, Moe Berg, Sandy Koufax, and others who were not just great athletes, but outstanding human beings as well.
My Dad used to call me "The Mighty Atom" when I was a little girl and we were play fighting. I had no idea he was a real man!
Before I started writing for Aish, I wrote a feature on Hank Greenberg (The Hebrew Hammer) for another website.
There's a cute follow-up story to this that I saw years ago. At the engagement of one of his granddaughters he wished the Chosson a hearty Mazel-Tov, and then whipped out of his pocket a heavy cast iron horseshoe. He then proceeded to tie the horseshoe into a knot with his bare hands. (He was well into his seventies at the time...) The 'Mighty Atom' then gave the cast iron pretzel to his new grandson-in-law as a present, and said "I trust you will treat my granddaughter with love and respect..."
Now that's a fantastic story! Thanks for sharing it.
Wow, loved this article!! Sent it to everyone i could think of.
He was not just a strong man. He was a man that had strong integrity of character. Smart too.