Magneto (real name unknown, alias "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr")
is a comic book character, a mutant in the Marvel Comics
universe. He has at various times been a supervillain,
a superhero, and an anti-hero, and in his role as a villain
- arguably his most famous role, though not his most complex
- he is the primary antagonist of the X-Men. He was created
by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The
[Uncanny] X-Men #1 (1963). Magneto is a survivor of the
Auschwitz death camp. As a young boy, with his power over
magnetism not yet developed, he and his family were persecuted
for being Jewish. Magneto witnessed the murder of his
family by the Nazis during the Holocaust. He alone survived
and was sent into the camps, forced by the Nazis to work
in the Sonderkommandos. Magneto has since been tormented
by the fact that, had he only been aware of his full powers
at the time, he could have put a stop to the entire process;
the entire Nazi military would not have presented an insurmountable
challenge to Magneto in his prime. However, since he was
malnourished and sickly while in the camps, he may not
have been in a condition to use his powers even if he
was aware of them.
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