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The fading memories of a
well-known German from the Nazi era, World Heavyweight Champion
from 1930 to 1932, Max Schmeling, usually have it that he was a
willing model for Adolf Hitler and The Third Reich, the
self-proclaimed Aryan Superman. Schmeling may indeed have
lunched with Hitler and had lengthy conversations with Goebbels,
master propagandist of the Nazi regime, but his tale is far more
complex than it first appears.
The story of Max Schmeling is the
story of a hero, who during the Kristallnacht pogrom of November
1938, saved the lives of two young Jewish brothers named Lewin.
A decent man in conflict with the Nazi regime and racial
policies of Hitler's Third Reich - and a man who demonstrated
extraordinary generosity, righteousness and humanitarianism. Yet
Schmeling never once revealed his heroism ..
Max Schmeling
Max Schmeling was a shy man of
extremely humble origins who came of age amidst the glitter and
turbulence of Berlin's 'Golden Twenties'. As the heavyweight
champion of Europe, his career inevitably brought him to
America. Arriving in New York he won the world title after
victories over Johnny Risko and Jack Sharkey in 1930. He
defended it the next year but lost it to Sharkey in '32 in a
blatantly unfair decision. Four years later, he was imported as
a sacrificial lamb for the invincible Joe Louis. Although a 10-1
underdog, Max Schmeling scored what some consider the upset of
the century.
Joe Louis won the rematch on 22
June, 1938, in one of the most discussed fights of all time -
and also one of the briefest. The fight was portrayed as the
battle of the Aryan versus the Black, a struggle of evil against
good ..
In a 1975 interview, Schmeling recalled the defeat: “Looking
back, I’m almost happy I lost that fight. Just imagine if I
would have come back to Germany with a victory. I had nothing to
do with the Nazis, but they would have given me a medal. After
the war I might have been considered a war criminal.”
Schmeling and Hitler |
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