Born in Braunschweig to decidely pro-National Socialist family, the second son of a WWI veteran who served in the Imperial Navy. Max was raised with his fathers fanatical belief that the German Military had been stabbed in the back by communists and traitors following the events of Nov 1918. His grades were average and fussball, classical music and literature occupied his interests as a youth.

After graduation from Gymnasium and a compulsory term in the Reich Labor Service Max applied to the Naval Academy in Flensburg with the
intention of becomming a Naval line officer
His application was rejected and he enrolled in a regular college in hopes of gaining admission the next year but soon his education would be cut short. On August 17th 1941 his family was informed of his brother Karsten's death on the Ostfront as amember of the 11th Infanterie Div.

Max volunteered for service with the LSSAH and was sent to Berlin Lichterfelde for training as a Mortarman and assigned to the 3. Komp of the Divisions Aufkl. Btl. He arrived in Russia as a replacement for the losses being suffered around Rostov in late fall 1941.

Max showing much leadership potential was ordered to the SS Unterfuhrerschule in Lauenberg shortly after the conclusion of the Kursk offensive where he earned him self the Iron Cross Second Class for pulling a seriously wounded kamerad from a knocked out vehicle.

Upon completion of the course Max returned to the division and was reassigned to the Stabs Kompaine of 1 Btl SS Panzer Grenadier Rgt 2 as a replacement for a serious shortage of NCOs in that regt. Although dissapointed he would not be returning to the Aufklarungs Abt he quickly adjusted and soon enough he fit right in. Max was appointed a squad leader in Hauptsturmfuhrer Hahne's escort platoon and remained there for the rest of his service. Despite a short hospitalisation for a fractured foot sustained in a traffic accident and a short stint as a Machine Gun Instructor at Berlin Lichterfelde during his recovery Max managed to return to the unit

Behind the lines, Max won a name for himself as a lover of the bottle and women of "less than" moral character. He was well known for being a sarcastic prankster and his antics, taste for, and ability to aquire only the finest in spirits earned him notoriety in the Battalion to say the least. He ended the war a POW of Gen. Patton's 3d Army in Austria.