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The Mascot cover image

The Mascot 2003

Highly Recommended

Distributed by Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th Street, New York, NY 10016; 202-808-4980
Produced by Caneva Media Productions/FFC Australia
Directed by Lina Caneva
VHS, color, 55 min.



Sr. High - Adult
Biography, European Studies, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Jewish Studies, Multicultural Studies, World War II

Date Entered: 12/19/2003

Reviewed by Brad Eden, Ph.D., Head, Web and Digitization Services, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

This video is the biography of Alex Kurzem, a Russian orphan in World War II who was found by Latvian soldiers, made their mascot, and given a new name and birth date. Alex was actually a Jew, however, who kept his real identity hidden, and migrated to Australia and lived a quiet, suburban life in Melbourne. In 1996, after over 50 years of hiding his past, Alex decided to find out who and what he really was. He went on a quest back to Europe with his son, filmmaker Mark Kurzem, and rediscovered his past and found relatives he never knew before. The film follows Alex as he travels back to Russia and Latvia, explores his background and his family, and eventually comes to grips with who and what he was before the Nazis made him their poster boy for the Nazi ideal. On his return to Australia, Alex is met with surprise and denial by the Holocaust Center staff, his friends, and even some of his own family. Alex's story does not fit into the neat and simple Holocaust picture, as he remembers being treated with love and care by his adopted family and the Nazis, and cannot find the anger that most Jews feel towards the Nazis.

Alex's son, filmmaker Mark Kurzem, narrates the movie and interviews his father throughout the program, letting Alex tell his feelings and surprise as each part of the puzzle of his lost childhood falls into place. The Mascot is highly recommended as another perspective of viewing the cause and effect of World War II and the Holocaust. The film is about a man trying to discover his past, the interweavings of the Jewish plight in World War II and current feelings regarding the Holocaust. A fascinating documentary and biography.