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

The story itself was very interesting, but the "voice" of the book just didn't feel authentic. It was written from the perspective of the author having conversations with his father about his (the father's) past, and it felt a bit too forced for my taste. Not that his story isn't believable, but for me the way the story was presented lacked something for me.

There was also a bit of "cloak and dagger" stuff that never really was explained, which took away from the main story too much. All in all, it was a good (and different) Holocaust survival book, but just not a great one.

Interesting subject that needed editing. I never finished reading it because I couldn't have cared less about what happened.

Imagine your mother waking you in the middle of the night with the news that everyone in your family, including yourself, would perish the very next day? That's exactly what happened to Alex Kurzem. But rather than sit idly by, helpless to the inevitable, Kurzem escaped that night, setting off on a lifelong journey of deception as a Jewish boy pretending to be a German, new name and all, of Latvian descent. After foraging in the woods for months, Kurzem was finally taken in by a group of soldiers. The tradeoff for being kept alive? Kurzem would be used as a propaganda tool, or mascot, for the Nazi Party. Only 60 years later would he ever reveal the secret to his family. Watch as Kurzem's son, Mark, pieces together his father's life. A page-turner that might be one of the best Holocaust stories ever written, if you only read one book this year, make it "The Mascot" by Mark Kurzem.

I just read this book in a one-day blue streak. I could not put it down. It will move you, amaze you, sadden you, and humble you.

This is an exceptionally well-written book that tells an amazing story. Since other reviewers have given the details of the story, I will not rehash them. Suffice to say that Alex Kurzem's story is a good example of the terrible suffering innocent individuals have had to endure (a suffering that may even be worse than death itself) as a result of Nazi cruelty.

Some reviewers have said this book is unfair to the Latvian people and tarnishes the entire nation with the same brush. I beg to differ. I believe the author went out of his way to distinguish between those Latvians (police and troops) who committed war crimes and those Latvians who did not (such as the family that took in his father). Even with regard to Commander Lobe, whose soldiers did commit atrocities, the author is careful to indicate he can not say for certain that the commander participated in those war crimes although he may have.

It would have helped to set the stage for his story if the author had included a brief introductory chapter on the history of Latvia during World War II. Nazi Germany and the USSR divided Poland between themselves in 1939. Then, in the spring of 1940, with no pretext or justification, Stalin swallowed up the three Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Naturally, the Latvians were outraged at this groundless conquest of their country and communization of their economy. Most Latvian Jews, however, were more willing to accommodate themselves to life under Soviet rule, even if it meant giving up personal property, because they felt they were now safe from the Nazis. In June 1941, however, Hitler broke his alliance with Stalin and turned on Russia. When the Nazis conquered Latvia, most Latvians saw them as liberators from the hated Russians, especially since they restored the Latvians' private property (that is, other than the Latvian Jews' property). One thing the Nazis did not restore, however, was Latvia's independence. The more thoughtful Latvians realized this. To them the Nazis may have been the lesser of the two evils, but they were still evil. Other Latvians, however, saw the Nazis as their friends, protectors and allies. This was unfortunate, and both the Latvians and the Latvian Jews ended up paying a terrible price. Close to 90 percent of all Latvian Jews were killed by the Nazis and those Latvians who made common cause with them. In addition, some Latvians even went into other countries (including Alex Kurzen's village in what is now Belarus) to help the Nazis commit their evil atrocities. Toward the end of the war, the USSR took over Latvia and annexed it. For the next 45 years the Latvians knew no freedom and the Soviets settled many Russians in their country, who live there to this day.

The Latvians should have at least tried to follow the example of the nearby Finns. The Russians also wanted to conquer Finland and as a result Finland allied itself with Nazi Germany. But the Finns fought only to regain the land Russia had taken from them and refused to participate in the Nazi invasion of Russia itself nor did they send troops to help the Nazis anywhere else. The Finns refused to harm their country's Jewish citizens nor would they turn them over to the Nazis, though Germany requested they do so many times.

As a result, the Russians grudgingly respected the Finns and did not see them as Nazi puppets or stooges. Finland therefore managed to maintain its freedom and democracy in the aftermath of World War II, though they had to remain neutral in the Cold War, so as not to offend their Russian neighbor.

The moral of the story: If a nation puts its trust in another nation to the extent that it willingly relinquishes its independence and willingly ceases to take responsibility for its actions, there will be a price to pay.