Maxim Eisenhardt (alias Erich Magnus Lehnsherr), a Jew (who also happened to be a mutant) growing up in Nazi Germany, was a witness to the horrors of the Holocaust. After World War II ended, Maxim became resentful of the humans who persecuted not only the Jews, but also mutantkind. Taking the name Magneto, he formed the Brotherhood of Mutants in order to destroy Homo sapiens and build a new society for mutants. He has two children--Pietro (Quicksilver) and Wanda (Scarlet Witch) Maximoff.