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For generations, the Tiboldt family has run a small travelling circus in Austria. During the 1930s, Franz Tiboldt became more ambitious and turned his circus into a front for criminal activities. During World War II, he was directed by Hitler to travel the U.S. to recruit people for the Maggia and to murder U.S. government officials. These activities were eventually foiled by Captain America, and Tiboldt and his circus was deported. |
After the war, Tiboldt and his wife Lola cooperated with the Allied officials by testifying against various war criminals. Fritz and Lola Tiboldt continued to manage Tiboldt's circus, and brought up their only child, Maynard, to become its ringmaster some day. Maynard, a born showman, developed a deep and sincere love for the circus, and proved to be a master at staging performances. Eventually Nazis who had escaped capture at the war’s ends that were seeking retribution for their testimony against Nazi leaders murdered Fritz Tiboldt and his wife. Maynard, who did not share his parents' sympathy for Nazism, became leader of the circus and decided to move it to America, far from the scene of Hitler's rise to power and his parents' death. There, Maynard planned to build a new, honest life. |
But once in America, Maynard found that he could not compete against enormous troupes such as the circus owned by Amos Jardine. Tiboldt had dreamed of making his circus a major success, but instead he could barely cover his expenses. Blaming Americans for the failure of his circus, and for his parents' humiliating capture, Tiboldt decided to turn to crime; if Americans would not enrich him and his performers willingly, they would be forced to do so. |