Victor Young Perez

In 1929, Jewish boxer Victor Perez, nicknamed "Young," left the French colony of Tunisia at the age of 16 with his older brother Benjamin to try his luck as a professional boxer in Paris. At just 5’1” and 110 pounds, he racked up so many victories that he became World Flyweight Champion in 1931 but the sudden fame and new fortune was so destabilizing that he lost his title the following year. His failure also endangered his romance with Mireille Balin, a charming but shallow actress. Victor’s relationship with Benjamin also withered to the point where Benjamin returned to Tunisia.

Abandoned and disgraced, Victor was forced to accept seedy fights and found himself in Berlin for a match in 1939, where he witnessed the ravages of Nazi anti-Semitism. After returning to Paris, he was arrested in 1943 and sent to Auschwitz. The SS camp commander, a boxing fan, forced Victor to participate in match against a German colossus to prove the superiority of the Aryan race for the amusement of the Nazi officers, but the fight didn’t go as planned.