Friday, February 04, 2005
Max Schmeling Dies
I hadn't even realized he was still alive, but former German Heavyweight Champion Max Schmeling died yesterday. The man Hitler touted as the example of "Aryan supremacy" in his match against African-American Joe Louis, led an interesting life. Schmeling was actually ardently anti-Nazi, asked Hitler to guarantee that U.S. Olympians would be protected at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, reportedly saved Jews from Concentration Camps, and remained friends with Joe Louis, until Louis's death. Schmeling paid for Louis's funeral. He also used his money from his fights to buy the license to the Coca-Cola franchise in Germany, using it to become wealthy in postwar Germany.
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