Max Schmeling: An Autobiography

The first surprise is probably that ex-pugilist Max Schmeling is still alive. At age 93 he has provided an epilogue for this English translation of an autobiography originally published in Germany in 1977. Von der Lippe, a professor of German and humanities at St. Anselm College, N.H., translated this autobiography principally because he is a boxing fan, but clearly von der Lippe hopes to cash in on the 60th anniversary (June 22) of the second fight between Schmeling and Joe Louis, one of the most politicized sporting events of the century. The way Schmeling, who is generally agreed to have been an ardent adherent of Nazi racism, tells it, it was the Nazi propagandists who portrayed the fight as one between an archetypal Teutonic Aryan and an American representative of an inferior race. Schmeling's loss ended the fighter's easy access to Hitler, whose favorite he had been. But more interesting than its portrayal of Western boxing from 1924 to 1948 is Schmeling's take on German life under the Weimar Republic, when athletes, creative artists and film stars all met socially in cabaret society. Schmeling was often entertained, along with his movie-star wife, by the Fuhrer. He claims, (shades of Leni Riefenstahl) never to have realized how all-consuming Hitler's hatred of the Jews was, saying that Hitler would walk out of the room any time Jews were mentioned. Celebrities populate every page, from Marlene Dietrich to Brecht to Jack Dempsey to Pope Pius XII to Al Capone. This fascinating if somewhat dubious history is complemented by 96 pages of b&w photos. 30,000 first printing. (Oct.)