His Own Man

Born with the 20th century, Otto Peltzer overcame a lonely childhood, beset by illness, to gain a doctorate in sociology and multiple world records on the running track. He competed in two Olympics, but his outspokenness made him persona non grata to the Nazis. His homosexuality was the pretext for a trial which resulted in his being sent for "re-education" to Mauthausen concentration camp. After the war, having survived four years of brutal treatment and lost his home and family to the Red Army, Peltzer was blocked from competing or coaching by his "denazified" pre-war enemies. He found salvation in India, where, as national coach and trainer of street-children, he became loved and respected, before dying in 1970 of heart disease caused by his camp experience.