[1] He was killed during World War II when the ship he was on was sunk by German submarines.
After the commencement of Operation Barbarossa, he was mobilized into the Red Army and trained in Tallinn.
Whilst sailing to Leningrad for deployment, Pohla and several hundred other soldiers died when the transport ship carrying them was sunk by German submarines.
Pohla and the other recruits were listed as missing in action until they were declared dead in January 1943.
[1][2] This biographical article relating to an Estonian sport wrestler or wrestling coach is a stub.