Before you go...
Check Out
The Bestselling Books of All Time
See the List

The Mascot

Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father’s Nazi Boyhood

Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father’s Nazi Boyhood

By Mark Kurzem

By Mark Kurzem

By Mark Kurzem

By Mark Kurzem

Best Seller
Paperback $16.00

Aug 26, 2008 | ISBN 9780452289949

Ebook $7.99

Nov 01, 2007 | ISBN 9781101213865

All Formats
+
    The Mascot by Mark Kurzem
    Paperback
    Aug 26, 2008 | ISBN 9780452289949
    See All Formats (1) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $16.00

      Aug 26, 2008 | ISBN 9780452289949

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook $7.99

      Nov 01, 2007 | ISBN 9781101213865

    Buy the Ebook:

    About The Mascot

    The “spellbinding” (The New York Times) true story of a Jewish boy who became the darling of the Nazis

    When a Nazi death squad massacred his mother and fellow villagers, five-year-old Alex Kurzem escaped, hiding in the freezing Russian forest until he was picked up by a group of Latvian SS soldiers. Alex was able to hide his Jewish identity and win over the soldiers, becoming their mascot and an honorary “corporal” in the SS with his own uniform. But what began as a desperate bid for survival became a performance that delighted the highest ranks of the Nazi elite. And so a young Jewish boy ended up starring in a Nazi propaganda film.

    After sixty-three years of silence, Alex revealed his terrible secret to his son Mark. With his son’s help, Alex retraced his past in search of answers and vindication. His story is at once a terrifying account of survival and its psychological cost as well as a brutally honest examination of identity, complicity, and memory.

    About The Mascot

    The “spellbinding” (The New York Times) true story of a Jewish boy who became the darling of the Nazis

    When a Nazi death squad massacred his mother and fellow villagers, five-year-old Alex Kurzem escaped, hiding in the freezing Russian forest until he was picked up by a group of Latvian SS soldiers. Alex was able to hide his Jewish identity and win over the soldiers, becoming their mascot and an honorary “corporal” in the SS with his own uniform. But what began as a desperate bid for survival became a performance that delighted the highest ranks of the Nazi elite. And so a young Jewish boy ended up starring in a Nazi propaganda film.

    After sixty-three years of silence, Alex revealed his terrible secret to his son Mark. With his son’s help, Alex retraced his past in search of answers and vindication. His story is at once a terrifying account of survival and its psychological cost as well as a brutally honest examination of identity, complicity, and memory.

    Reading Guide

    Reading Guide

    About Mark Kurzem

    Mark Kurzem grew up in Melbourne, Australia. He studied anthropology at the University of Oxford, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar, and also studied at Melbourne, Jochi, and Tokyo universities, where he was a Monbusho Research Scholar. He worked in the… More about Mark Kurzem

    About Mark Kurzem

    Mark Kurzem grew up in Melbourne, Australia. He studied anthropology at the University of Oxford, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar, and also studied at Melbourne, Jochi, and Tokyo universities, where he was a Monbusho Research Scholar. He worked in the… More about Mark Kurzem

    Product Details

    Category: Biography & Memoir | European World History

    Paperback | $16.00
    Published by Plume
    Aug 26, 2008 | 432 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | ISBN 9780452289949

    Category: Biography & Memoir | European World History

    Ebook | $7.99
    Published by Plume
    Nov 01, 2007 | 432 Pages | ISBN 9781101213865

    People Who Read The Mascot Also Read

    ‹ ›
    Imperial Twilight
    Atlas of a Lost World
    Island People
    The Rise of Athens
    Paradise Now
    The Perfect Horse
    The Road to Character
    Flashpoints
    Speak Now
    Conquerors
    The Ugly Renaissance
    A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising
    The Teacher Wars
    Empire of Sin
    Little Demon in the City of Light
    A Nice Little Place on the North Side
    Marketplace of the Marvelous
    Asia's Cauldron
    The Pope and Mussolini
    Cubed
    Money
    The Old-Fashioned
    Scatter, Adapt, and Remember
    Out of Order
    St. Peter's Bones
    Smithsonian Civil War
    A Disability History of the United States
    Fighting for Life
    No Ordinary Men
    The Many-Headed Hydra
    Operation Massacre
    Wrapped in the Flag
    Bodies of Subversion
    Gettysburg: The Final Fury
    The World of the Shining Prince
    Cronkite's War
    The Crisis of the European Mind
    Dogfight
    The Stammering Century
    National Geographic 125 Years
    A Different Mirror for Young People
    Bretz's Flood
    Sources of the River, 2nd Edition
    How Hitler Could Have Won World War II
    The Republic

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Praise

    “Part mystery, part memory puzzle, it is written in the polished style of a good thriller, and it is spellbinding…. This is a book to keep you up at night.”—Dinitia Smith, New York Times
     
    “Astonishing.”—Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller
     
    “Powerful.”—Olga Craig, The Sunday Telegraph (LONDON)

    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    TASTE img

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    LitFlash

    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices

    Read it Forward

    Read it first. Pass it on!