![After a Nazi death squad raided his village and killed his family, five-year-old Alex Kurzem was taken in by a group of Latvian Nazis, who did not realize that he was a Jew.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9dec20e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/200x247+0+0/resize/880x1087!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fprograms%2Ftotn%2Ffeatures%2F2007%2F11%2Fmascot_200-b902de9f54a9c119391003dd28dd459b1eabff23.jpg)
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After a Nazi death squad raided his village and killed his family, Alex Kurzem, a five-year-old Jewish boy, found protection in an unlikely place — with a group of Latvian Nazis.
Unaware that Kurzem was a Jew, the soldiers dressed him in tiny Nazi uniforms, and adopted him as their mascot. He even starred in a Nazi propaganda film.
For decades, Kurzem kept his childhood a secret — even from his close family. But as he became more determined to connect with his past, Kurzem shared his story with his son, Mark. The Kurzems recount the tale in a new book, The Mascot.
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