Robert R. Max

Robert Roger Max (born July 10, 1923) is a World War II veteran and author of The Long March Home: An American Soldier's Life as a Nazi Slave Laborer (). The autobiographical book, which was published in 2017 when Max was 94, recounts his military experiences.
Born in Newark, New Jersey to Jewish parents, Max attended college at Ohio University before enlisting in the United States Army at age 20.
In 1944 at age 21, Max was part of the Allied landing at Omaha Beach in France, serving in the 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, 6th Armored Division.. He was captured by the German forces during the Battle of the Bulge on January 4, 1945. Rather than being sent to a prisoner of war camp, Max was made to work as a German slave laborer. After 68 days, he escaped and was eventually rescued by the advancing Allied troops. Max is the recipient of a purple heart with oak leaf cluster and three bronze campaign battle stars. An account of Max's experience is preserved in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
In 2018, when he was aged 94, Max was thought to be the last surviving captured American serviceman to have worked as a Nazi slave laborer.
Max was married to Shirley Biller Max and they had three children: Wendy Max, Douglas, and Norman.
Max was a founder and former president of Reconstructionist Temple Beth Hatikvah in Summit, New Jersey.
At 95, Max volunteers as a speaker recounting his experience during the war at local schools and universities.

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