Nothing is known of the origins of the man identified as Baron Death until his appearance on the East Coast of the United States in 1939. A group of Nazi agents embedded in the U.S. awaited a shipment and were astonished to see a torpedo of extraordinary size approaching the shore.  Even more astonishing was the armored figure astride the torpedo, who guided it ashore.  The men were incredulous as the uniform of the figure who identified himself only as Baron Death and claimed to be conducted an ultra-secret mission on behalf of the Fatherland.  He revealed the contents of the torpedo: advanced weapons with four times the firing capacity as American version that he was to test against US weapons of the neutral nation to assess its war-readiness.  If successful, Germany would have an upper hand should America enter the War.

That evening, saboteurs, either at the Baron's direction or acting independently, attempted to dynamite the military base where soldier Hank Heywood was stationed.  Happening upon them, Heywood engaged and in the melee, knocked one onto a plunger, igniting the dynamite.  All but Heywood was killed and he badly mangled.  As it happens, Heywood was the protege of bioengineer Gilbert  Giles who used advance reparative technology to save Heywood, leading him to become the costumed adventurer known as Steel, the Indestructible Man.

Some weeks later, Steel was "borrowing" weapons from his base's armory when he came upon agents of Baron Death sent to obtain U.S. arms for testing and comparison to the newer German versions.  Steel made short work on the Nazi infilitrators and left them for the military police to find.  Over the next week, Steel managed to track down all of the members of the cell that met with the Baron and turn them over to the American authorities.  By the end of the 1939, he had not yet caught up with Baron Death but swore to eventually do so.  Whether he ever did and the fate of Baron Death on Earth-Two remains unknown.