About the Author

Alan Scott Haft

Son of Harry Haft

Alan Scott Haft is the oldest son of HARRY HAFT. He graduated from Queens College in 1973, and received his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1978.

In 2003, Alan collected the oral history of his father's experiences in concentration camps as a boy, and his experiences as a professional boxer: from Auschwitz to his fight with the 1952-1956 Heavyweight champion of the World, Rocky Marciano.

In 2006, Syracuse University Press published the biography. In 2010, the book was published in Germany, and in 2019 the book was published in Poland. 2020 will mark the publication of the English language paperback edition.

On the basis of the publication in German, the artist Reinhard Kleist created a graphic version of the story which was serialized in the German periodical Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in 2011. His depiction of this incredible story and the dramatic portrayal and likeness to the real Harry Haft led to Kleist's graphic novel being published in 2011 as Der Bokser. To date, Der Bokser has been translated into German, Italian, English, Bulgarian, Portugese, French, Greek, Indonesian, Czech, Serbian, Hebrew, Spanish, Chinese and Macedonian.

Following Harry's death in 2007, the success of the graphic novel brought an invitation from a German film company to Harry's sons to be filmed for a documentary following the path of their father from his birth place in Belchatow, Poland through the War years. This began a ten year period of inquiries from around the world asking about the unbelievable story of HARRY HAFT. In 2018 Oscar winning director Barry Levinson (Diner, Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam) announced that production had begun on the biographical Hollywood film HARRY HAFT, starring Ben Foster in the title role, with Vicky Krieps, Danny DeVito, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Leguizamo in the cast. Release date: 2020.

The unique perspective of the film mirrors the very path of son, author and speaker Alan Scott Haft. The film is based on the recollections of the father handing down his story to his son.