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Quote1 Sometimes in this life you get a moment. A time when everything lines up. When anything is possible. When suddenly you can make things happen. God help us if we take that moment. And God forgive us if we don't. Quote2
Jakob Eisenhardt[src]

History

World War I[]

Jakob Eisenhardt was the father of Max Eisenhardt, later known as Magneto. Jakob fought with the German Sixth Army at Ypres in October of 1914 in a battle know as "Der Kindermord bei Ypern", which meant "The Massacre of the Innocents", during World War I. After being blinded by mustard gas, Jakob spent five days in a field hospital. At night, Jakob would load the dead soldiers in mass unmarked graves.

In the summer of 1916, Jakob pulled a Bavarian Major, named Jurgen Scharf, to the safety of a nearby trench under heavy enemy fire. For this, Jakob received a commendation for bravery and the undying gratitude of this superiors. Months later, Major Scharf pinned the Iron Cross to Jakob's lapel and he was proclaimed a proud son of Germany.[1]

Nazi Germany and Warsaw Ghetto[]

When the Nazis established the Nuremberg Laws, Jakob's brother, Erich was beaten and forced to wear a sign saying that he had shamed a German woman, Jakob's family recommended leaving their hometown Nuremberg, but Jakob went to Major Scharf, hoping to get immunity. After being left waiting for Scharf, Jakob saw him as he was leaving and a troupe of Nazis beat him for "making such a trouble" in Scharf's office and resisting arrest. After hours of beating, Major Scharf threw Jakob out of his office, stating that they would have killed him and that they were even. As things worsened in Germany, Jakob taught his family "fight back, and they'll stomp in your head" and insisted that they stay and learn to figure out the rules. They did not stay long after November 7, 1938, when Herschel Grynszpan assassinated the German attaché, Ernst von Rath and the Nazis started to terrorize Jewish people in the Reichskristallnacht, they fled to Warsaw, Poland.

Jakob and his family lived in a Jewish sector of Warsaw, where the Nazis built the Warsaw Ghetto in October 1940. When the Nazis started to deport ghetto inhabitants to Treblinka extermination camp in July 1942, Jakob and his family tried to escape. On their way to their hideout they were captured by Nazi soldiers and as they were executed, Jakob saved Max' life by pushing him out of the line of fire without anyone's notice. Their corpses and Max were buried in a mass grave.[2]

See Also

Links and References

References

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