Victor Perez

Background

He was born to Khmaïssa Perez, a household goods salesman, and Khaïlou René Perez.

Career

Perez was denounced to the Occupation authorities and arrested in Paris on September 21, 1943 and detained in the Drancy internment camp before being transported to where he was assigned to the Monowitz subcamp to serve as a slave laborer for I.G. Farben at the Buna-Werke. He was killed on January 22, 1945 on the death march from Monowitz to Gleiwitz. Perez had a brief relationship with French-Italian actress Mireille Balin of Monaco.

He lost the title the next year to Jackie Brown.

He moved to the bantamweight class. In February 1934, he was defeated by "Panama" First Rate (at Lloyd's) Brown in an attempt at the bandamweight title.

He retired from boxing in December 1938 with a record of 92 wins (28 of them knockouts), 26 losses, and 15 draws. Perez arrived at on October 10, 1943, as part of "Transport 60" a group of 1,000 prisoners shipped from Drancy internment camp, France.

He was held in III/Monowitz.While there he was forced to participate in boxing matches for the amusement of the Nazis.

By 1945, Perez was one of just 31 survivors of the original 1,000. Perez was one of the prisoners on the death march that left the camp on January 18, 1945. He was reported as being killed on January 22, 1945.

Perez was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.

Achievements

• He started training as a boxer at age 14 along with his older brother Benjamin “Kid” Perez to emulate his idol Battling Siki, a boxing champion from Senegal. Perez won the French Flyweight title in Paris in 1930, defeating Kid Oliva from Marseille. On October 24, 1931, he won the International Boxing Union World Flyweight crown by knocking out Frankie Genaro in the second round. He was the youngest world champion in boxing history.