Max Schmeling was a German boxer in the '30s that ended up being cast as a Nazi by the public. He beat Joe Louis once but was defeated in the rematch.
Many years later, in 1975, Schmeling said, "Looking back, I'm almost happy I lost that fight. Just imagine if I would have come back to Germany with a victory. I had nothing to do with the Nazis, but they would have given me a medal. After the war I might have been considered a war criminal."[10]
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During the Nazi purge of Jews from Berlin, he personally saved the lives of two Jewish children by hiding them in his Excelsior hotel room in Berlin. He claimed he was sick and permitted no one to enter.[11] It was not the first time that Schmeling defied the Nazi regime's hatred for Jews. As the story goes, Hitler let it be known through the Reich Ministry of Sports that he was very displeased at Schmeling's relationship with Joe Jacobs, his Jewish fight promoter, and wanted it terminated, but Schmeling refused to bow even to Hitler.[12] During the war, Schmeling was drafted, where he served with the Luftwaffe and was trained as a paratrooper.[13] He participated in 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. After recovering, he was dismissed from active service after being deemed medically unfit for duty because of his injury. Nevertheless, in July 1944 a rumor that he had been killed in action made world news.[14] He later visited American POW camps in Germany and occasionally tried to improve conditions for the prisoners.
Good for him. He didn't make huge sacrifices, but he didn't cower before Hitler, either. This is a low bar that ultra-powerful billionaires today have stumbled over.