|
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 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.”
During the '36 Olympics
Max Schmeling exacted a promise from Hitler that all
U.S. athletes would be protected. On several occasions
Hitler tried to cajole the respected boxer into joining
the Nazi Party, but Schmeling vigorously refused ever to
join the Nazi party or to publicize the Nazi propaganda
line. Over Goebbels' personal protest, he refused to
stop associating with German Jews or to fire his
American Jewish manager, Joe Jacobs.
In an article, published
in History Today, two professors at the
University of Rhode Island, Robert Wiesbord and Norbert
Heterich, tell how Schmeling agreed to hide the two
teenage sons of a Jewish friend of his, David Lewin,
during the awful time of Krystallnacht, November 1938
when Nazi pogroms against the Jews reached new heights.
He kept the Lewin boys,
Henry and Werner, in his apartment at the Excelsior
Hotel in Berlin, leaving word at the desk that he was
ill and no one was to visit him. Later, when the rage of
hate died down a little bit, did Schmeling help them
flee the country to safety. They escaped and came to the
United States where one of them, Henri Lewin, became a
prominent hotel owner. This episode remained under
shrouds until 1989, when Henry Lewin invited Schmeling
to Las Vegas to thank him for saving his life. To this
day, Henri Lewin believes that he and his brother owe
their lives to Max Schmeling and he is convinced that
Schmeling himself could have died for his humanitarian
gesture.
Hitler never forgave
Schmeling for refusing to join the Nazi party, so he had
him drafted into the Paratroops and sent him on suicide
missions.
After World War 2 Schmeling fought five times and though
he never made the top 10, he made enough money to
purchase the Coca-Cola dealership. He was known as one
of the most generous philanthropists in Germany.
Schmeling treasured camaraderie and friendship and
somehow, each of his ring opponents became his friend.
He regularly and quietly gave the down-and-out Joe Louis
gifts of money, and the friendship continued after
death: Schmeling paid for the funeral.
Max Schmeling died on February 2, 2005, at age 99 at his
home in Hollenstadt. His wife of 54 years, Ondra, died
in 1987.
Schmeling became one of Germany’s most revered sports
figures, not only for his singular athletic
accomplishments in the 1930s but for his humility,
discipline and character. |
.jpg)
.jpg)
