Waubonsee Community College

The mascot, by Caneva Media Production

eng

videorecording

For College; Adult audiences

The mascot

electronic resource

747797409

by Caneva Media Production

59

As a a five-year-old Russian orphan in World War II, Alex Kurzem had been found by Latvian soldiers, made their mascot and given a new name and birthdate. But Alex was actually a Jew, kept alive by those who were exterminating his people. With his real identity hidden, he became a poster boy for the Nazi ideal and was taken into a Latvian family, who later migrated to Australia.For fifty years, Alex lived a quiet, suburban life in Melbourne, marrying and raising three sons. He never revealed his shocking history to anyone, until in 1996, a series of events led him on a quest back to Europe with his son, filmmaker Mark Kurzem. There, he rediscovered his past and found relatives he never suspected he had. On his return to Australia, those revelations would be met with surprise, even denial, and raise difficult and emotional questions. The film explores Alex s search for his true history and the unexpected impact that had on his family, community and his own sense of identity

general