The heroisism of Max Schmeling

way to go max:yep:think

 

Schmeling re fractured his vertebra where Louis had broken it during a parachute drop.

Ironicaly, that ring injury might just have saved his life.

 

This Jewish friend was a long-time friend of Schmeling before the nazis seized power in Germany. When they did, he fled, first to Belgium, then Paris, then to the US. I sadly can´t remember the name. However, when Schmeling stayed in Germany and let himself be used by the nazis, for example as a ambassador for the Olympic games 1936 in Berlin, he broke with Schmeling and was respensible for much of the bad press Schmeling got in the US. He told everyone who wanted to here that Schmeling was a huge nazi. However, after the war was over Schmeling looked for him and they talked a whole night. That man is the only person who knew everything what Schmeling did, the only one Schmeling told himself what he did. After that night he cried and asked Schmeling for forgiveness. They stayed friends until he died.

Schmeling himself never talked about those things by himself, it´s always been other people who brought it up. When asked why, he answered "because it´s nothing special, everyone would have done this."

When Schmeling lost to Louis he wasn´t much of use for the nazis anymore and he had to show up everyday at the "Reichssicherheitshauptamt" to make sure he wouldn´t flee the country. When he was there waiting in an office of a young SS-officer, this officer had to leave the office for a while. When he came back he found Schmeling at his desk with two files. Schmeling was putting lists of names from one file to the other. One file was for death camps the other one for working camps. The young officer was a huge fan of Schmeling and total in awe of him and because of that didn´t report it and promised to never talk about it. However, he did before he died. Nobody knows if he saved anybody with this action or how many lists he put from one file to the other. But alone doing that proves the guts and greatness of him.

He also bayed for his funeral. He did the same for Sam Langford too - he wasn´t the only one though. Schmeling is still the greatest contributer to charity of all time in Germany. Although Michael Schumacher very likely will surpass him in a few years.

His autobiography is good but he didn´t talk about many things in there. I have 5 biographies on him here, including his autobiography. The best one is the most recent one "Schmeling - 1905 - 2005 - the career of a century German" by Martin Krauß. It´s very balanced, not just a hype of Max. It goes quite deep into him beeing a patriot and because of that leting himself beeing used by the nazis and the high probabillity of his post WW2 fights beeing fixes. It´s a good read too and gives some good insights in his character without judging him. Just telling you who he was and lets you do the judging. Don´t know if it got published in English though. The same author also wrote a book about the history of German pro boxing. Those two are the best German boxing books I´ve read so far.

All true. Goebbels asked him personally to get rid of his manager Joe Jacobs. Max didn´t. Hitler himself asked Schmeling to get divorced from his czechen wife Anny Ondra - a big movie star back then - they stayed married until Ondra died in the 70s. He let himself beeing used as a symbol by the nazis but he never let them turn him into one.
After boxing he was a successful business man, he founded three businesses - a tobacco plantage, a vineyard and mink beredding - successfully before selling them to take over Coca Cola Germany. Even when nearly 100 years old he worked every day and drove the 80 kms to his office alone.

I saw that movie and it was even more disapointing than I expected. Boll is a big boxing fan but he has even less clue about it than he has about film-making.

My granddad became a paratrooper after WW2 due to that. My broghter called his son after him, Max. At the party yesterday we had a drunken discussion about that and someone mentioned that no other name in Germany is as much combined to a person - with the exception of Adolf - when someone says Max the first thing that comes to peoples minds over here is Schmeling.

 

When the story of his passing broke in the United States, the late Peter Jennings concluded his World News Tonight broadcast on ABC with that obituary, highlighting this act of courage (which carried the death penalty, although I think the Nazis would have had to be very careful about the political ramifications of persecuting a national hero like this).

Schmeling would have been perfectly content to have the knowledge of any such deeds die and be buried with him, and I suspect what we do know and ultimately discover will never be more than the tip of the iceberg. (Remember, the rescued party chose to come forward. If it was up to Max, we would have never known at all.)

At age 35, he was wounded as an elite paratrooper in "Operation Mercury," the Pyrrhic German victory at Crete, history's first primarily aerial invasion. He'd have been feted as a war hero if he'd been fighting for the Allies.

Rudyard Kipling (who lived to see Schmeling become champion of the world) published this classic work when Max was five years old, a poem that was indeed offered in on-line tributes to him while still alive. (Reading this, it's easy to believe that this could well have been one of the highly literate Schmeling's favorite works of poetry):

This content is protected

 

That opening paragraph was indeed the one most specifically cited in honoring Schmeling in his final years. He's well worthy of the appreciation, and your thread here seemed a perfectly appropriate place to include it.

My mother has a framed illustrated copy of Kipling's "If" from her grandmother dated from 1910. (No, it's not really a collectible despite being over a century old. He was already the first English language winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, so the popularity and best selling success of this 1895 poem was guaranteed when it was released. Regardless, a great poem, and I'm not really a fan of poetry.)

In Eva Braun's private diaries from the 1930s, she pines for the negligent love of her life, and mentions watching in envy as, "He buys flowers for Ondra." (!!!)

 

Personally, I couldn't give a **** how many Jews he saved.
I think he's grossly under-rated as a fighter. :deal

 

I haven't seen the Schmeling film but the fact that Ewe Boll was involved is enough to know it is not worth it.

 

Fascinating character,Can anyone recommend a book,i see one biography on Amazon but its it german from the 70s,could this be bought in english anywhere?

 

He was a grossly misunderstood fighter in the US all the way up to the 60's and 70's,...he wasn't ever given his proper due, either as a man or a fighter until a couple of decades later.

 

To be fair, he probably didn't want his due, living in Germany in the 60s and 70s.

 

I, too, didn't realize his history until about 10 years ago. A caring individual and good guy. I'd heard about him footing some of the bill for the Brown Bomber's funeral.
For all the, who's the oldest living HW Champ, I was shocked several years ago to read he had passed at 99? Is that right?
RIP Champ! A great fighter and a great human being!

 

It's impossible to know whether these stories are true or some inventive PR that occurred years later when having 'saved the Jews' became fashionable, (the Steven Spielberg era).
It's also impossible to say how common such acts were.

I don't think it matters.
Schmeling seemed like a decent guy regardless.

Definitely a great fighter, imo.
Doesn't get his due credit.

 

Schmeling sent a lot of money to Joe Louis. He sent regular payments from the late 1950s on. It would be fair to say he supported Joe.