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| The Red Skull was born Johann Schmidt in a southern German village, the son of an illiterate, drunken peasant named Hermann, and his long-suffering wife Martha. Martha died in childbirth, and Hermann tried to drown the newborn Johann, blaming him for the death of his mother, and committed suicide the next morning. The infant was rescued by a local doctor, who delivered the infant to an orphanage. |
| Schmidt ran away at age seven, and grew up in and out of prison for petty crimes ranging from vagrancy to theft, constantly beaten and victimized by other thugs. His smouldering anger was given an outlet when he first encountered Hitler; Schmidt was working as a bellboy in a hotel in which Hitler was staying. Hitler was in the middle of berating his general staff, and boasted that he could make "this bell-boy" into a more effective Nazi. |
| Schmidt was given military training, and made into the perfect S.S. soldier. Upon his presentation to Hitler, however, Hitler grew enraged, screaming, "Anyone can make a soldier!” Hitler took Schmidt in hand for personal training as a special operative, giving him the identity and mask of the "Red Skull". |
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