Despite always being curious about her roots, Pamela knew very little about her biological family’s history until she started digging deeper during the pandemic.
The adoptee and former journalist from Canada, who wishes to only be identified by her first name, approached her search like a puzzle, analysing documents, photographs, and DNA matches.
It was in one newspaper clipping from 1940 that she made a shocking and unexpected discovery about her grandfather.
Stefan ‘Steve’ Zakall was a Hungarian-born weightlifter – but to her disbelief he was also the man who, during a fateful clash, whipped Adolf Hitler with a belt.
He had been part of a local home guard who travelled from town to town to act against the rising tide of fascism in Europe.
And on January 30, 1927, Steve found himself in the middle of a violent brawl between Nazis and socialists in the small town of Schattendorf, Austria.
Despite it being the only weapon available at the time, Steve said he hit Hitler so hard with his belt he ran away begging for mercy and hid in a wheat field.
It was a skirmish the future Fuhrer would not forget and Steve was forced to flee for Canada two years later when a price was put on his head.
An article published in The Vancouver Sun on January 20, 1940
Steve (Stefan) Zakall, third from the right, on his way to Schattendorf on January 30, 1927
Adolf Hitler pictured in Munich in the spring of 1932
Steve was born in an area of Hungary that later became Austria in 1904 and quickly developed a passion for weightlifting.
As an athlete, he became a member of the Schutzbund, a paramilitary wing of the left-wing Social Workers’ Democratic Party (SDAP).
The group was formed in 1923 as a response to rising political violence, and as a counterweight to the well-funded military groups of the far-right.
Pamela, a former journalist, described how her grandfather was directly engaged in the fight on January 30, 1927.
‘He hit Hitler with a belt,’ Pamela explained.
‘It was a chaotic moment, but he made direct contact.’
This incident, later known as ‘The Shots of Schattendorf’, became a defining moment in Austrian history.
Two people were killed, including a young child during the clash, with the men responsible for their deaths later acquitted in a controversial trial.
This verdict enraged the socialist movement and directly led to the July Revolt in Vienna later that year.
Violence erupted across the city and the political fabric of Austria was irrevocably altered.
The incident is remembered as a turning point that paved the way for the eventual rise of fascism in the country.
Hiter (pictured) became the leader of Germany in 1933 and stayed in the position until his death by suicide in 1945
Steve Zakall in the centre of the front row wearing dark trousers, a white shirt and a white jacket on July 15, 1927
Steve’s involvement in the Schutzbund made him a target and as soon as the fight was over, word spread quickly about his clash with Hitler.
‘He had to flee,’ Pamela explained. ‘There was a price on his head because of that fight, and he had no choice but to leave the country.’
With the help of two Allied war veterans, Steve was smuggled out of Austria and eventually made his way to Canada in 1929.
His family followed shortly afterwards, and they settled in British Columbia, where Steve, started a new life as an orchardist in the heart of Canada’s Okanagan Valley.
But despite leaving Europe behind, the memory of the fight never left him and years later, while applying for Canadian citizenship, Steve’s story came up again.
During the process, he was asked by a judge if he would be willing to defend his newly adopted country.
Without hesitation, Steve replied, ‘I would welcome the opportunity to do it again,’ referring to his earlier fight against the Nazis.
Pamela explained: ‘That bold statement caught the attention of a court reporter, and the story spread quickly.’
It was picked up by newspapers across Canada, including The Montreal Gazette and The Vancouver Sun.
One report in the Tacoma Times, dated January 18, 1940, read: ‘A man who claims he whipped Adolf Hitler with a belt until he bled and begged for mercy has become a Canadian citizen here, it was learned today.
‘He is Stephen Zakall, Hungarian born rancher.’
A clipping of an article published in The Tacoma Times on January 18, 1940
The article also contained the following quote: ‘I took of my belt, caught up with Hitler and believe me I sure soaked that guy until he was bleeding and ran away with the rest of the gang and hid in a wheat field.’
Another story published in The Vancouver Sun on January 20 included a picture of Steve lifting weights.
It said Stephen Zakall had gained an ‘international reputation as the man who spanked Hitler’.
It was through these reports, accessed through the MyHeritage OldNews collection, that Pamela discovered her grandfather’s shocking story.
‘It was surreal to read that and to think that this was my grandfather,’ she said.
Pamela was also surprised by how few of her relatives knew about Steve’s incredible story and explained how it has brought them closer.
‘They knew that he had been a strongman and weightlifter, a few family members did know that he had been involved in some form of resistance, but they didn’t know with whom, to what extent, or the magnitude of it’, she revealed.
Steve was married three times and had 12 children, eight daughters and four sons.
While he continued to pursue his love of weightlifting, he became an avid orchardist and worked hard at his craft until he died on January 19, 1986 of a heart attack at the age of 81.