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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Kelly Burke

The Jewish boy who became a Nazi mascot: the extraordinary story of Alex Kurzem

Alex Kurzem with the Latvian battalion who adopted him
Alex Kurzem (centre), pictured with members of the Latvian battalion who are said to have adopted him. Photograph: SBS

It is a story so remarkable that many struggled to believe it.

A mother tells her six-year-old son that soldiers are on the way to their house to kill them in the morning, and the family will die together. But the little boy does not want to die. Under the cover of night, he escapes the house and hides in the forest, where he watches as the troops round up the inhabitants. From his hiding place among the snow-covered trees, Alex Kurzem – a name he did not go by then – watches as his entire family is massacred.

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