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.
Boxing For Nazis in Auschwitz, USC Shoah Foundation
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.
Polish Official Photographer, Wikimedia Commons
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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.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
5. He Had Puppy Love
Despite his early family troubles and the German invasion, Haft had high hopes for his future. Even at just 14, he planned on marrying his childhood sweetheart, a girl named Leah, and spending his life with her. Sadly, the invasion separated the young couple.
Haft would spend decades, during and after WWII, looking for her. But under German occupation, Haft found ways to make trouble.
6. He Was A Textile Tycoon
In the early days of the German occupation, Haft found a way to thrive—a pattern that he would repeat later on. Along with his brothers and some local boys, Haft took advantage of the chaos that the Germans caused and started a textile smuggling ring. Turns out, he had a talent for it.
7. He Could Carry His Own Body Weight
Owing to his smaller stature as the youngest member of the gang, Haft took on most of the responsibility. He was small enough to make his way around undetected, even with a pack weighing 50-80 pounds on his back. He was always one step ahead.
8. He Refused To Comply
It wasn’t long before Haft came face to face with the real horrors of WWII. Sometime into their occupation, the Germans began registering the Jews in Haft’s hometown, and instructed them to gather at a local hall. Haft, however, sensed that something wasn’t right and stayed away.
Unfortunately, his brothers didn’t get the same memo.
Bundesarchiv, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
9. He Rescued His Brothers
Haft learned that the Germans were holding his brothers—along with the rest of the town’s Jewish population—at a hall. Enraged at the injustice, he made his way over and staged a daring rescue. But it didn’t exactly go according to plan.
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10. He Got Caught
Haft managed to rescue his brothers, helping them escape from the hall where the German occupiers had been holding them. However, in the escape, the Germans captured Haft himself. Suffice to say, they were not impressed with his heroics, and they demanded to know where Haft’s brothers had gone.
When he refused to answer, he got his first taste of the cruelty that lay ahead.
11. He Had Three Broken Fingers
Out of loyalty to his brothers, Haft refused to give up their location to the Germans. But his loyalty cost him dearly. The Germans dragged him into the office, placed his fingers in the door and closed it shut. By the time they were done, Haft had three broken fingers. But the Germans didn’t have his brothers.
12. He Survived A Harrowing Train Ride
The Germans kept Haft and transported him to Posen by train. Without food or water for days, many of his fellow Jews perished. Haft only survived because of his youth and vigor. Finally, he arrived at a labor camp along with 600 other Jews from his hometown. But his plight had only just begun.
Sinsk, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
13. He Put His “Experience” To Good Use
After a short stint in Posen, the Germans either sold or gave Haft and 200 of his fellow prisoners to a private company at another labor camp. But, instead of mining coal as he was supposed to, Haft made use of his smuggling skills. In exchange for better treatment from his captors, Haft would sneak out of the camp and take munitions from nearby trains and cars.
Before long, he was basically a free agent.
Radomil, GFDL 1.2, Wikimedia Commons
14. He Wasn’t There For His Cousin
Haft gained so much trust with his captors that he was frequently allowed to sleep outside of the camp and mingle with the free civilian population. However, one morning, Haft returned to the labor camp to a horrific discovery: The Germans had hanged his cousin. Haft, who'd been enjoying his freedom and high status, blamed himself for not being there.
What happened next, however, changed his perspective forever.
15. He Lost His Faith In An Instant
One of Haft’s sisters was pregnant while they were being held captive. Miraculously, she was able to deliver a happy, healthy baby. Then the unthinkable happened. A German officer ripped the two-hour-old baby from their mother’s arms and threw them onto a truck.
At that moment, Haft lost his faith in God and Judaism. But he would need it more than ever.
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16. He Worked The Gas Chambers
Throughout WWII, Haft bounced around from labor camp to labor camp. Eventually, he ended up at one of the most dreadful places on earth: Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Worse yet, Haft’s German captors gave him one of the most horrific jobs. He was placed in the Sonderkommando unit, disposing of the lifeless bodies of gas chamber victims.
17. He Made A Friend
If Haft knew how to do anything, he knew how to survive. Even in the bleakness of Birkenau, he put his entrepreneurial skills to work. Haft befriended an unnamed German fighter, and worked out a deal with him. The German, named Schneider in the film The Survivor, put Haft to work sorting out the possessions of the fallen Jews.
It turned out to be quite lucrative.
18. He Slept On A Bed Of Diamonds
Haft was able to collect gold, jewels, and diamonds from his fallen fellow Jews, with the aim of splitting the gains with Schneider. However, one night, the Germans staged a search of the barracks and found a bottle in Haft’s bed filled with diamonds. Once again, however, Haft proved his loyalty by refusing to give up Schneider.
And, once again, he would pay the price.
19. He Went To Work The Mines
The Germans punished Haft by sending him to another nearby labor camp to work in the coal mines, where a prisoner would be lucky to survive three days. Of course, Haft was lucky. Schneider, proving his loyalty, transferred to the coal mine. And he had a brilliant idea for keeping Haft alive.
20. His Boxing Career Was Just Getting Started
Haft was no longer the small runt after running textiles from town to town. Despite the harsh conditions, he had matured into quite the specimen—which gave Schneider an idea. Haft’s German friend decided to sponsor the strapping young lad to fight in boxing matches that the Germans held on Sundays for their entertainment.
But these boxing matches came with a chilling catch.
21. He Was In Tip-Top Shape
Having friends in high places—or low ones, depending on how you look at it—came with some perks. As a natural athlete with some limited boxing experience, Haft dazzled his German captors in his first few boxing matches against his fellow Jewish prisoners.
In light of his growing popularity, the Germans allowed Haft to do easy work so that he would be ready for his Sunday fights. Everything counted on him winning.
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22. He Brawled To The Bitter End
The boxing matches between Jewish prisoners were just entertainment for the German guards. But, for Haft and his opponents, they were matters of life and, well, you can guess the rest. The matches would go until one of the boxers was physically incapable of getting back up.
A knockout would have been more merciful than what happened next.
23. He Fought For His Life Each Time
Every Sunday when Haft stepped into the ring, he knew that it could be his last day on earth. The loser in one of these bare-knuckle brawls would only be given a few days to recover from their injuries and get back to work. If they didn’t, the Germans shipped them back to Auschwitz and had them thrown in the chamber.
Haft escaped the poison gas more times than anyone else.
24. He Set An Ignominious Record
While at the coal mining labor camp, Haft defied the odds time and time again. He had a record that would have made Muhammad Ali jealous. The teen fought in a staggering 76 fights, often fighting three or four opponents in a single day. His undefeated record made him a legend—for all the wrong reasons.
25. He Had A Terrible Nickname
In a twisted way, Haft’s German captors developed a kind of respect for him. As a result of his unprecedented win record, and his “fighting prowess,” the Germans began calling him the “Jew Animal”. Haft did what he had to do to survive—and that's exactly what he did.
26. He Made A Run For It
By April 1945, as the Allied forces approached, the Germans cleared out the concentration camps and forced Haft and his fellow survivors on a grueling march. As the Allies drew nearer, however, their captors grew desperate and simply opened fire on Haft and his fellow captors.
Haft, spurred on his preternatural will to survive, made a run for it.
27. He Fell Into A Foxhole
Haft and another man managed to make their way to the top of a hill before horror struck. A shot tore through his friend who fell, mortally-wounded, to the ground. Thinking quickly, Haft dropped down and rolled into a foxhole, pulling his grievously wounded friend to safety with him.
Harry Haft was one final nightmare away from his freedom.
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28. He Covered Himself In Blood
The Germans began advancing up the hill to finish off Haft and his friend. Once again, however, Haft’s survival instinct kicked in. He pulled his friend’s nearly lifeless body on top of himself, getting covered in blood. When the Germans arrived, they assumed that both Haft and his friend had perished and continued on their way.
That wasn’t even the closest call he had.
29. He Came Across A Man In A River
Haft was finally free from German captivity—but he wasn't out of the woods left. He was all alone, and his captors could be anywhere. But Haft dealt with what was in front of him. His miraculous escape had left his ragged clothes covered in blood.
He was looking for fresh clothing when he happened across an SS officer, bathing in the river.
30. He Emptied The Chamber
Haft caught the SS officer off-guard and managed to grab his weapon and open fire. Unfortunately, Haft missed, and the officer came charging at him from out of the river. In a flurry of action, Haft reached for the officer’s sidearm and “emptied the chamber into him”.
Harry Haft had taken lives before, but it was usually with his fists—and this one was a German. But he wasn't finished.
Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons
31. He Pulverized An SS Officer
After years in captivity enduring the most inhumane treatment, Haft let out all of his frustration and rage—on the SS officer’s face. After emptying the chamber into the man, he lunged at him and began to “pulverize” his skull with the handle of the sidearm.
When Haft finally composed himself, he donned the officer’s uniform, eyepatch and all. It was a dangerous disguise.
32. He Found Safe(ish) Refuge
As the last days of WWII came and went, Haft stumbled through the woods and fields in search of refuge. He eventually came across a small farmhouse where an elderly couple lived. With his uniform, he managed to convince them that he was a German officer who had gotten injured and was separated from his unit.
The ruse worked…at first. But then things took a turn.
33. He Cut Down An Elderly Couple
Haft managed to spend the night at the German couple’s farmhouse. But, by the morning, they had grown suspicious of him. The husband began asking Haft a series of questions that he couldn’t answer. Fearing that the couple would discover the truth and report him to the authorities, Haft panicked, and shot them.
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34. He Ran Into The Woods
Haft’s traumas had left him in full-on survival mode. After tragically executing the couple, Haft raided the food from their kitchen and fled into forests of Bohemia, where he remained for weeks. Once he ran out of food, however, he had no choice but to try the same ruse again.
And just like last time, it would all go horribly wrong.
Doktory, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
35. His Disguise Failed Him
Haft found another farmhouse and knocked on the door, hoping that his SS officer uniform would still be effective. However, when a middle-aged woman answered his knock at the door, everything went sideways. She knew immediately that Haft was no SS officer. “You’re not even German,” she said to him.
36. He Went Into A Blind Rage
Once again, Haft’s survival instincts kicked in. He feared, reasonably so, that the woman would report him to the nearest authorities as an imposter. In a “blind rage,” he reached for the revolver that he had taken from the SS officer and fired a shot, at close range, into the stunned woman and she fell, lifeless, to the ground.
Then things turned really sad.
37. He Made A Devastating Discovery
As he rummaged through the kitchen for food, Haft heard a noise from somewhere else in the house. When he inspected one of the bedrooms, what he found left him heartbroken. A boy of approximately 12 years of age was hiding in the closet. Haft composed himself enough to tell the boy to stay in the closet before fleeing in horror.
38. He Prepared For Another Fight
After raiding the kitchen, Haft took refuge in an abandoned farmhouse, somewhere outside of Regensburg. Just when he thought that he might get a moment’s reprieve, however, he noticed a “group of men,” drawing ever closer to his makeshift home. Once again, his fight or flight instinct kicked in.
1139th Engineer Combat Group, Wikimedia Commons
39. He Saw The Stars And Stripes
Just as he had been doing since he was 14, when the Germans first rolled into Poland, Haft prepared to defend himself from the approaching group and reached for the revolver. That’s when he spotted something he never imagined he would see: an American flag. His ordeal had finally come to an end.
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40. His Prisoner Number Saved His Life
Overcome with relief after years of torment and unspeakable evils, Haft dropped his revolver and staggered outside to the approaching Americans. He fell to his knees and, not knowing English, drew a Star of David in the dirt.
Then, to prove that he was, in fact, a POW, he showed the Americans the number tattooed on his arm: 144 738.
41. He Was A Boxing Champion
From 1945 to 1947, Harry Haft lived in a very different kind of camp; one operated by the US Army for those displaced by the calamities of WWII. But he never lost his fighting spirit. He continued boxing, going on to win the Amateur Jewish Heavyweight Championship in Munich, receiving the trophy from American General Lucius Clay himself.
A brighter future was finally ahead of him.
42. He Set Sail For America
Still only 23 years old, Haft moved to the United States, traveling aboard the US Army troopship SS Marine Marlin. But even after all he'd been through, he wasn't totally in the clear yet: Haft had to use a fake identity to enter through the port at New York City. But his dreams were all too real.
Growing up as he did, fighting was all he knew, and he wanted to make a future out of it as a prizefighter. Not everyone understood his decision.
43. He Wasn’t Afraid To Get Hurt
When he arrived in New York City, Haft first stayed with an uncle and aunt who had escaped from Poland before the invasion. Given what he had survived, his aunt and uncle couldn’t understand why he wanted to continue fighting. “After everything I’ve been through,” Haft told them, “What can some guy with gloves do to me?”
Well, he was about to find out.
44. He Boxing Career Was Brief—But Brilliant
Haft’s boxing career got off to a tremendous start, and he racked up a series of wins by knockout, even breaking the jaw of one of his opponents with a sharp right cross. However, his career ended abruptly with a near loss to the future world heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano.
According to Haft, however, he could have won that match.
Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons
45. He Claimed The Mafia Set Him Up
Haft had difficulty admitting defeat. In a biography, Harry Haft: Survivor of Auschwitz, Challenger of Rocky Marciano, written by his son, Alan, Haft made a shocking revelation. He claimed that the mafia had visited him before his bout with Marciano and told him, in no uncertain terms, to throw the match.
Haft’s own son doubted the claim. But victory might not have been Haft’s ambition anyway.
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46. He Tried To Rekindle An Old Flame
Haft had an ulterior motive for wanting to fight Marciano. Let’s just say, he was a lover, not a fighter. He hoped that the press coverage from the fight would get his name in the papers, thereby notifying all his old acquaintances that he had survived the Holocaust.
Specifically, he was hoping that his long-lost love interest, Leah, would come and find him. It didn’t quite work out as he had expected.
47. He Settled Into A Traditional Life
After his boxing career ended, Haft settled into a quiet life. He moved into an affordable apartment in Brownsville where he met a girl named Miriam, who lived downstairs. After just one week of dating, Haft popped the big question and the two got married in a traditional Jewish ceremony on March 22, 1950.
48. He Found An Old Friend
Haft started a fruit cart business and settled into a quiet and peaceful married life with Miriam, producing three beautiful children. Then a blast from his past stirred old memories. By chance, Haft reconnected with Leah, who had also survived the horrors of WWII, moved to America, and started a family of her own.
Try as he might to move on, however, the scars of his past would never truly heal.
49. He Sent 70 Men To Their Graves
Haft was never truly able to recover from his harrowing experiences at various concentration camps. What stuck with him the most, however, was the boxing matches—and his ignominious record. Historians believe that as many as 70 men ended up in the gas chamber after losing a boxing match to Haft.
The guilt stayed with him until the bitter end.
50. He Went From The Holocaust To The Hall Of Fame
Haft managed to raise his family and retired with his wife, settling down for retirement in Florida. Then he received an honor he never thought he would. In April 2007, he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports of Fame, capping off a career that he had started simply to survive.
A few months later, in November of 2007, Haft drew his final breath. His last words were devastating.
51. He Was Filled With Regrets And Remorse
Whatever Haft did during and immediately after WWII, he had only done to survive. But that didn’t ease the pain, and he carried a heavy guilt with him the rest of his life. According to Haft’s son, Alan, the survivor’s last thoughts as he stared at his fists were “his regrets” for “the lives that passed through his hands”.
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