User:SilverStar54/Max Heller

Max Moses Heller (May 28, 1919 – June 13, 2011) was an American mill owner and politician who served as the mayor of Greenville, South Carolina from 1971 to 1979.

Early life
Heller was born into an Orthodox Jewish family. His parents operated a dry goods business in which Heller became an employee when he turned 14. He eventually got a job with a chain of retail stores and found success there as a businessman. In 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany. As Jews, the Heller family lost their jobs and were subject to escalating anti-Semitic persecution. Max Heller was able to get in contact with a young woman from Greenville, South Carolina, who he had briefly met while she was on a Grand Tour of Europe. By finding him a job at a textile plant in Greenville, she made it possible for Max Heller (and later, the rest of his family) to emigrate to the United States.

In 1939, Heller's fiancé Trude Schonthal was able to emigrate from Austria as well. The couple were married in 1942.

Business career
The textile industry was Greenville's most important during the mid-twentieth century. Heller's initial job was in the Piedmont Shirt Company, and he had risen to vice-president of the firm by 1945. He decided to start his own textile company. After a brief attempt at a business partnership, he founded Maxon Shirts in 1948. The business was successful and had grown to employing 700 people by 1966. Heller sold the company in 1971 when he decided to enter politics.