Third part of Famous People in WW2: “Max Schmeling”

Max Schmeling was a German boxer, heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. When he returned to Germany after being defeated by Joe Louis in The Combat of the Century, Schmeling was now shunned by the Nazis, but he kept on boxing. During the Nazi purge of Jews from Berlin, he personally saved the lives of two Jewish children by hiding them in his apartment. During the war, Schmeling was forcibly drafted, where he served as Fallschirmjäger or elite paratrooper, forming part of the Battle of Crete in May 1941, where he was wounded in his right knee by mortar fire shrapnel during the first day of the battle. He was eventually dismissed from active service, but in 1944 a rumour that he had been killed in action made world news. He later visited American P.O.W. camps in Germany and occasionally tried to help conditions for the prisoners.