The Mascot: Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father's Nazi Boyhood

The Mascot tells the remarkable true story of Mark Kurzem's father, Alex. At five years old, in 1941, Alex escaped a German execution squad in Latvia, ran into some nearby woods and, the next morning, watched his Jewish mother and siblings being shot. He survived alone amongst the trees for nearly nine months before falling into the hands of an SS unit, the soldiers of which treated him kindly and adopted him as their mascot. With his custom-made SS uniform, peaked cap and full belly, Alex went with them everywhere as they shot and raped Jews wherever they could find them. He was even used in Nazi propaganda films...Ultimately, after the War, he made a new life in Australia, and kept silent about his childhood secrets, not even telling his wife and sons. Was he a collaborator, or just a little boy? Nearly 60 years later he flew across the world to visit his academic son Mark at Oxford University and, from then on, tiny details, long buried in his memory, began to surface. Mark was astonished, and began to help him rediscover and unravel his past. This included a return to his original village in Latvia to search for his mother's grave, and being tailed by Mossad agents and members of the Simon Weisenthal Centre. Eventually Mark made a film called The Mascot which won Best Documentary at the Sydney Film Festival and has also written this gripping account of what he and his father have been through in order to tell the truth at last.