https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Pietrzykowski
He faced a number of opponents in Auschwitz, including other imprisoned Polish boxers such as
Michał Janowczyk.
[10] Sometimes his opponents were prisoner volunteers. Pietrzykowski tried to adjust his style to his opponents, avoiding injuring them (unless they were German kapos) and prolonging the fights for the amusement of the onlookers.
[6] In particular, he tried to help the Jewish boxers he fought, recognizing that the matches were more perilous for them; in at least one case he tied on purpose, drawing a compromise between maintaining his winning streak and avoiding drawing the guards' ire to his Jewish opponent.
[6] Several times he fought German opponents in fights that were considered to be particularly vicious. He was victorious against German professional boxers such as
Wilhelm Maier and
Harry Stein.
[6] Some of his fights were more impromptu: for example, in May 1941, with permission of a guard, he challenged a prisoner who was beating another prisoner; only later did he learn that he had rescued a priest who later became Saint
Maximilian Kolbe.
[6]
Due to his style, which favored evasion, the Germans nicknamed Pietrzykowski the Weiss Nebel (White Fog). Boxing fights for the amusement of the German personnel took place most Sundays. While in Auschwitz, Pietrzykowski fought between 40 and 60 matches and had a long winning streak, losing only a single fight in the summer of 1942 (against a Dutch Jew and also professional boxer, middleweight champion
Leen Sanders); Pietrzykowski would go on to win a later rematch between the two.
[6][9] The rewards for his victories were the privileges of being allowed to choose where to work and extra food, which he often shared with other prisoners.
[6] At one point, he received a proposal to sign the
Volksliste, which would have enabled him to leave the camp, but he refused.
[6] At another time, he was
subjected to a medical experiment; he was intentionally infected with
typhus by the camp medical personnel during a check-up in the camp hospital, but he survived.
[6]
Some of Pietrzykowski's victories over German opponents made him enemies among German personnel, and there were rumors that he would be executed in revenge. However, in March 1943, a visiting German official, Hans Lütkemeyer of the newly opened
Neuengamme concentration camp, recognized Pietrzykowski, whom he had met during a match in 1938. Lütkemeyer invited Pietrzykowski to transfer to the new camp, which he accepted. He was transferred to Neuengamme on 14 March 1943.
[9][6]
In Neuengamme, he continued boxing, defeating opponents ranging from German kapos to an Italian professional boxer. As in Auschwitz, his fights were popular not just among the guards, but among the prisoners, a number of whom mentioned in their diaries that they were cultural and sport highlight of their otherwise miserable lives in the camps. In Neuengamme, Pietrzykowski was considered undefeated. One of his most notable opponents was German-American heavyweight boxer,
Schally Hottenbach, nicknamed "Hammerschlag" (Hammer Strike), whom Pietrzykowski defeated in August 1943.
[6] His undefeated string once again irritated some Germans, and once again rumors started to spread that some German personnel were planning to murder him. However, Pietrzykowski was able to arrange a transfer for himself to another camp in
Salzgitter (
KZ Salzgitter-Watenstedt [
de]), where he became ill, but recovered. In total, he fought at least 20 matches in Neuengamme. His last opponent was Russian soldier Kostia Konstantinow.
[6]
In March 1945, as the
Eastern Front was approaching, Pietrzykowski was transferred to
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He survived there until the camp was liberated a month later, on 15 April 1945