Max Schachner was an Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II. Max Schachner was born on the 1 May 1914, in Haag, Austria. He volunteered to join the SS-VT and took part in the Anschluss of Austria and the occupation of the Sudetenland in 1938. He also took part in the annexation of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939.