MuTheta - 07 June 2009 03:01 AM

I question this book because I find no substantiation whatsoever that the central figure, Uldis “Alex” Kurzem is Jewish. This fact raises my suspicion. I wish there was something that would conclusively confirm that he Jewish or he is not Jewish. Unfortunately no such confirmation exists.

You still don’t answer my question.

Why is the concept of a soldier taking pity on a Jewish boy so preposterous as to not be credible? Even if he was not Jewish, it would still be possible (just as possible, in fact).

I am about halfway through this book, just wondering where all this info came from and why anyone would try to make a story of this without actually living through or having the facts, I realize it’s really skecthy through the first, but ....

debbie85901 - 08 June 2009 12:12 AM

I am about halfway through this book, just wondering where all this info came from and why anyone would try to make a story of this without actually living through or having the facts, I realize it’s really skecthy through the first, but ....

The kid in the story is the father of the author. And the proof is a newsreel of Alex as the mascot which was found in Latvian state archives.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=f8aee6f6-c8bc-4053-ac56-354809d37355&k=25791&p=2

danbloom - 07 June 2009 04:37 AM

Yes, I do know ThetaMu in real life, although he has a real name, too. Nice chap, very keen to show this book
might be based on fiction rather than a true story. We shall see.

He recently spoke with a reporter for a major major newspaper in New York who interviewed him at length by phone the other day.

ThetaMu’s take on the phone chat: “I wouldn’t say she brushed me off, but she’s not interested in anything other than is Alex Jewish or not Jewish? She has no other interest and because I couldn’t tell her if I knew for certain if Alex is Jewish or not, she didn’t seem really interested in pursuing anything with me. All other suspicions that I had…... she discounted ...... She even suggested that she didn’t find it remotely suspicious that a Nazi military unit would harbor a Jewish child knowingly.”

As Renquist has said, it seems that you assume that every German Army unit was made up of rabid, Jew-hating Nazi’s.  This was not the case.  Like any other men (and women) each person had their own beliefs and set of ethical guidelines. Many German soldiers felt the SS and true Nazi’s went too far in dealing with the Jews.  Many went out of their way to care for or help what they considered people first, and race second. Just like anyone else.

*sigh*

As the victors, many have tried to re-write history such that every German was a Nazi.  They want to paint a whole people with the crimes of their leaders/upper military echelons.  I tend to think that the rank and file Germans were no different from everyone else. They were just there because they had no real choice.  I would like to think that at least some of them would have put themselves at risk to help another human being.  And I think that a close look at the facts will back me up. 😕

danbloom - 08 June 2009 02:59 AM

I think you are right, DavePRime, and good points! I agree.

Oh, he is right.  Some of the Jewish organisations that keep records of the Holocaust and all that related stuff have lists of Germans, many of them members of the Nazi party, who took great risks to save Jews.  And you have Nazi members of the military, such as Wilhelm Hosenfeld.  The average German soldier was just a person, and so German soldiers acted within all the various shades and tints of humanity.

Here: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/secrets-of-a-nazi-mascot/3593627263

From 4:20 to 4:46 you can see pictures of him as a kid in uniform with the soldiers. At 5:40 to 6:05 there is a clip of a Nazi propoganda film he starred in as a kid.

I might also add that for another example of kindness during war, read the story “So far from the Bamboo Grove”, which details the true story of a Japanese family who were living in North Korea as WWII was ending.  At one point, the readers learn about the narrator’s older brother, who was traveling seperately from the family. He is walking through bitter cold and collapses. A Korean family finds him, brings him home, and cares for him until he is able to continue on, despite the fact that they know he’s Japanese.

Not monsters. More ghouls. No horns were visible. Imagine the worst of it.

What?

I’m taking a stab and guessing he’s saying the Nazis were ghouls, not monsters.

Accipiter - 08 June 2009 03:12 AM

danbloom - 08 June 2009 02:59 AM

I think you are right, DavePRime, and good points! I agree.

Oh, he is right.  Some of the Jewish organisations that keep records of the Holocaust and all that related stuff have lists of Germans, many of them members of the Nazi party, who took great risks to save Jews.  And you have Nazi members of the military, such as Wilhelm Hosenfeld.  The average German soldier was just a person, and so German soldiers acted within all the various shades and tints of humanity.

I wrote a large post a couple of weeks ago listing Germans honoured by the Isrealis for their efforts in saving Jews, but I can’t find the damn thread.

Wow, I leave you guys alone for a weekend and a perfectly normal thread turns into a huge debate. I should stop going on vacations, or something.