Charismatic New Jersey Veteran Who Escaped Nazi POW Camp Is Subject Of New Documentry

NEW JERSEY — When Robert Max talked about getting captured by the Nazis and enslaved in a Nazi POW camp, people listened. Max, a Jewish World War II veteran who lived in Summit until his passing in August of last year, was the last American veteran alive who'd survived a Nazi slave camp.

He was known to enthrall listeners when he told stories.

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One of the people whom Max enthralled was Brett D'Alessandro, the head of the non-profit Backpacks for Life, who met him a few years ago when driving him to a speaking engagement at a school.

D'Alessandro was so moved by the way Max shared his memories, that he and director Greg Parker made a documentary based on Max telling his tales.

Now, "Bob Max: The Long March Home" can be viewed on Vimeo for free here.

In the documentary, Max doesn't just talk about his own story, but reminds viewers of parts of history that can be easily forgotten. He notes that not all Americans understood why they were being called to war, until President Franklin Roosevelt convinced the public to get involved through his Fireside Chats on the radio.

Max himself wrote an autobiography with the same title that's available on Amazon.

The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, based in Whippany, hosted a webinar last month to discuss the documentary. D'Alessandro, Parker, and others discussed the film.

According to a story about the presentation in the Record of Hackensack, the Nazis captured Max during the Battle of the Bulge. The Nazis put him to work in frigid temperatures fixing rail lines damaged by the Allies. However, Max and his other prisoners of war sabotaged the work.

As Max and his fellow POWs were led on a death march, they escaped by "jumping into a hedgerow." They hid with a family in a village until the Allies drove the Nazis out of the area in 1945, the year the war ended.

Max began writing his story when one of his grandchildren asked him about the war.

So far, viewers of the documentary are impressed. One blogger wrote, "There's a pretty interesting twist at the end."

Find out more about "The Long March Home" here.

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