Alex (Uldis) Kurzem (18 November 1933 – 31 January 2022) was an Australian pensioner originally from the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, and a centre-point of a long-standing controversy regarding his Holocaust memoir which has led to a financial windfall in the early 21st century.
"[4][5] In 2020, genetic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick concluded that Kurzem is 100% Ashkenazi Jewish came from the region of Belarus he claimed to, and had living relatives in Canada.
He was saved from probable death by Jekabs Kulis, a sergeant of a Latvian police battalion after begging for bread and making the drunken soldiers laugh.
According to Kurzem's memory Kulis and his commander Lobe changed the story and rehearsed with him a narrative by which he was a Russian orphan who had lost his parents in the forest.
[7] In 2002, Kurzem's son Mark (died 2010[8]) wrote and produced a documentary (with Lina Caneva) entitled The Mascot, which tells his father's story of his childhood with the Latvian SS.
She further reported that Maisel had read accounts from the Yizkor book of Koidanow stating that the 1941 massacre was done in a surprise action and was over within hours - contrary to Kurzem's claims.
Both Fitzpatrick and Maisel had received evasive answers from Kurzem when asking him about memories that most survivors find emotionally charged, specifically his family's murder and how he hid his circumcision from others.
The report of the ombudsman was "satisfied Mr Kurzem was Jewish; was separated from his parents during the war; lived under a false identity for at least 18 months, and; that his life had been in danger".
[13] There is no doubt that he is the "mascot" boy, but the members of the Latvian SS unit still claim they were not part of the Slonim massacre and had not participated in any atrocities in accordance with the deposition Kurzem wrote for Kārlis Lobe.
In the book Mark Kurzem tells of the doubts raised on both sides, claiming the Latvian denials were planned and expected but that the Jewish ones were a surprise.