http://www.alara.net/opeople/xbooks/magjew.html

"(6) Uncanny #211, Nov. 1986. The Mutant Massacre. Page 9 --Betsy
Braddock has just come in from discovering what happened to a
wounded Morlock, who has just died. Magneto, Storm, and Wolverine
are standing there in Xavier's infirmary. Betsy says, "... I saw a cadre of
super-beings ... massacring every living thing in the Morlock tunnels."
Magneto reacts immediately, out of pure emotion. "NO! The horrors of
my childhood, born again...only this time, Mutants are the victims,
instead of Jews." What else does this mean? He's talking about HIS
childhood, he's making a parallel. If he weren't Jewish, he wouldn't
have said Jews, he would have said Gypsies. The two groups of people
are not interchangeable. "

Things became much confused after that, and it did not help when Stan Lee, in an interview circa 2008 (don't hold me to that date) stated that he never really thought of Magneto as a villain! Really, Stan?

Unfortunately, this decidedly skewed version of Magneto as a "freedom fighter" seems to be the one X-Fans have embraced -- there was a great commotion when HIDDEN YEARS was announced, from people who feared I would use my book to "undermine" Chris and Magneto. And, as we know, among the most staunch defenders of "continuity", the C-Word very often means "since I started reading".

As to the question of Magneto's accent -- if he has one, he must be able to disguise it very effectively, or it really wrecks the Big Reveal at the end of this issue…

     This is part of what gives weight to what John admonishes us so much about trying to tie comicbook characters in with historic events for the sake of "continuity".  Back in 1983, it seemed somewhat logical to me that Magneto was a child survivor of the Holocaust.  After 2000, it seems that they started stretching it a bit too much.

     Whether or not being in a concentration camp during World War II makes a background for a hero or villain doesn't matter much to me.  It could affect people either way; I'm certain that Magneto probably saw only the bad in people in those days, and felt that it was the only way to get his way in the world.

     To paraphrase the "Hitler" avatar who confronts Mags in the Heroes for Hope special during the mid-1980s said: "You are an apt pupil."

     To close, I actually thought that giving Magneto the name "Eric Magnus Lehnsherr" was one of the rare nice touches during the mid-1990s era.  This was when they brought him back as a full-blown supervillain.  It could be possible that some gypsies were also Jewish, though unlikely.

P.S.

I recall Alara Rodgers from my fan-fiction days in the late 1990s.  I've always wondered whatever became of her.  Those were the days for me.

••

Remember, too, that Magneto has been rejuvenated at least once. So, I believe, has Xavier.

Time has not been the most consistent element of the X-Men's comics. Xavier was in his 20s when we were introduced to him in X-MEN 1. Yet, a few years later, he was revealed to have served, as an adult, in the Korean War.

Things started to get very messy when Chris began folding together elements that had no real connection -- such as making Magneto and Xavier former "lab partners" -- along with Moira and Karl Lykos, making for a crowded lab -- which was at odds with the established relationship between the two, ie, none!

Here again we see that favorite fanboy chant, "Well, it was never established that they DIDN'T know each other years earlier!" A lot of things are not ESTABLISHED. That doesn't make them true!

Tangent: One of my great regrets, giving Magneto the name "Magnus" in "Days of Future Past". Never for a moment occurred to me I was giving him a real name!!

"I like to think of Magneto as being about....40 years old or so.  Not 80 which I guess is official in today's comics. "

Since he was turned to a baby and back into an adult, he can be whatever age really.

"Last I checked Marvel was still stubbornly sticking to Punisher being a Viet Nam vet making him about 60 years old now. "

That is only the Punisher in the Max line similar to how theVertigo John Constantine has been aging but the one recently returned to the DCU is much younger.

The Max thing...that was unnecessary.

John Byrne wrote: ...Remember, too, that Magneto has been rejuvenated at least once. So, I believe, has Xavier...

Even more than just reuvenated, the body that Charles Xavier inhabits is a clone body created by Shi'ar technology after he lost his original body by turning into one of the Brood:

And, naturally, poor Professor Xavier ended up losing the use of his legs again about a couple of years later.

Here's a page I found that discusses Magneto's religion:

The Religion of Magneto.