Fighting Facts About Harry Haft, The Toughest Boxer Of All Time
He Punched His Way To Freedom
Harry Haft was the Jewish boxer who punched his way out of Auschwitz and survived to tell the tale. But his heroic journey to freedom came at a terrible cost.
1. He Suffered An Early Setback
Herschel “Harry” Haft had a humble beginning in the Polish town of Bełchatów. He was born on July 28, 1925 and had five brothers and three sisters. However, by the time he was two or three years old, he suffered his first major setback when his father succumbed to typhoid.
The tragedy left his family in dire straits.
2. His Family Struggled To Make Ends Meet
Without their father, Haft’s family struggled to make ends meet. His sisters had to find work in a textile factory, and even little Harry had to chip in whenever possible, helping his sisters with their work. To make matters worse, in the midst of their struggles, they faced rampant anti-semitism.
Little did they know, it would only get worse.
3. He Was All Alone With His Mother
By the late 1930s, it became increasingly apparent that storm clouds were gathering over Poland. In preparation for a pending German invasion, the Polish army conscripted Haft’s older brothers. He was left alone with his mother, without enough money for bread, surviving off of potatoes and corn.
Still, he saw the silver-lining.
4. He Had High Hopes
In 1939, when Haft was just 14, he witnessed the unthinkable: the Germans invaded Poland. The Third Reich rolled over the Polish army with ease and entered Haft’s hometown as conquerors. However, in the first few weeks, Haft believed that everything was “going to be easy” under his new occupiers.
He was horribly wrong.
