Canadian soldier and captive Wehrmacht Chief Lance Jakob Nacken (15.02.1906 - 06.1987).
Jacob Naken was a circus performer before the war, he was 221 cm tall and became famous in Germany as the "Giant from the Rhineland" (Riese aus dem Rheinland). His fame spread beyond Germany as a result of which he became a member of the German delegation to the New York World's Fair in 1939 and 1940. Was drafted into the Wehrmacht. Naken served on a coastal battery in the Calais region of France, where he was captured by Canadian forces. He spoke English, so it was through him that negotiations were going on about the surrender of the garrison to the battery. Contained in a prisoner of war camp in the UK. In 1949 he left for the United States, where he decided to use the fame that he received thanks to photographs published in American newspapers with the headlines "The Tallest Nazi" and newsreels of the moment of his capture. In New York, he became involved in various Broadway shows under the nickname The Giant Uranus, was registered as the tallest Santa Claus. He starred in Robert Ripley's Believe It or Not! (Ripley's Believe It or Not!). It is known that Jacob Naken got married in the United States and even received American citizenship, but later returned to his homeland, where he died at the age of 82.
Jacob Naken was a circus performer before the war, he was 221 cm tall and became famous in Germany as the "Giant from the Rhineland" (Riese aus dem Rheinland). His fame spread beyond Germany as a result of which he became a member of the German delegation to the New York World's Fair in 1939 and 1940. Was drafted into the Wehrmacht. Naken served on a coastal battery in the Calais region of France, where he was captured by Canadian forces. He spoke English, so it was through him that negotiations were going on about the surrender of the garrison to the battery. Contained in a prisoner of war camp in the UK. In 1949 he left for the United States, where he decided to use the fame that he received thanks to photographs published in American newspapers with the headlines "The Tallest Nazi" and newsreels of the moment of his capture. In New York, he became involved in various Broadway shows under the nickname The Giant Uranus, was registered as the tallest Santa Claus. He starred in Robert Ripley's Believe It or Not! (Ripley's Believe It or Not!). It is known that Jacob Naken got married in the United States and even received American citizenship, but later returned to his homeland, where he died at the age of 82.
