Koidanov Massacre and One Survivor’s Remarkable Tale
On this day 68 years ago, Alex Kurzem‘s mother, sister and brother were brutally murdered by the Nazis on the outskirts of their village in Belorussia. In fact, approximately 1,600 Jews were murdered and buried in mass graves in Koidanov, outside Minsk. CBS News told the incredible story of how Alex, a six-year-old orphan, survived the Nazis’ final solution and kept how he survived a secret for more than 50 years. “The Mascot” aired on 60 Minutes in February of this year (see video link above) and is retold in “The Youngest Corporal in the Nazi Army” on their website. The Mascot is also the title of a book written by Alex’s son, Mark, who tells his father’s story of escape, survival, and remarkably, his life as a Nazi mascot. Read a review of Mark Kurzem’s book on Tracing the Tribe.
The Koidanov shtetl was renamed Dzyarzhynsk (or Dzerzhinsk), Belarus. The Vanished World of Lithuanian Jews (p. 285) tells how the 12th Batallion of the Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft, an auxilliary police batallion recruited by the Nazis, committed mass murder in the Minsk region in October 1941 (see also Richard Breitman’s paper, titled “Himmler’s Police Auxiliaries in the Occupied Soviet Territories” at the Museum of Tolerance).
Of the three million Russian Jews murdered in the Holocaust, 800,000 of them were Belorussian. Ninety percent of the Jews in Belorussia were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators (Source: The Jewish Virtual Library).
I found this tragic story on the blog This Day in Jewish History and stumbled upon Alex Kurzem’s story while searching “Koidanov, Belarus” on Google. Never Again! pauses to remember Kurzem’s family and the other 1,000 – 1,900 Jews murdered this day 68 years ago.
October 23, 2009 at 12:35 AM
Dear Mrs (Mr)!
I want to show you my new Blog “Military Diplomacy” with Url address http://nkotev.wordpress.com . The blog is for the diplomatic history and foreign policy during the Second World War. You can see also the Zhukov`s Berlin`s Strategic operation in photos.
Best wishes
Nikolay Kotev
October 25, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Good cause.
October 26, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Thank you for stopping by my post on Likelihood of Success about the “Nazi Mascot.”
December 26, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Alex Kurzem’s tale of the Koidanov massacre does not match the historical record. The massacre occurred in one day, not two, it was not raining, and the killings are estimated at 1920 Jews. An Extraordinary Commission took witness depositions in October 1944.
January 2, 2010 at 10:47 AM
Kurzem’s account may not exactly match the historical record, but he was a very small child at the time, and it is now 60 years later. The main lines of of the story are well-documented in the book – it is hard to dispute the photos.
January 18, 2010 at 2:43 PM
I read the book that tells Alex’s story. I think in English its called “The Charm” or something like that. Its horrible and I dont know the ending becuase I am still reading the book but I cried a few times. I am Israeli and only 14 but i read alot of holocaust book for some reason and this one is one that I will remember…
January 19, 2010 at 11:46 PM
@Lee Levits The book in English is called “The Mascot”. I’m 15 and recently finished reading it, its one of the best books i’ve read
March 19, 2010 at 9:48 PM
My grandmother was born in Koidanov, in 1895. Emigrated with her mother, older sister and younger brother to the US in 1902. Her father and two older brothers had already emigrated.
July 27, 2010 at 5:13 PM
Just finished the book “Mascot”, great one!
Can’t imagine what Alex had gone thru as a young child and all the way until this day!
Never again!
November 6, 2010 at 1:00 PM
My father emigrated from “Koidanov” around 1917. The Ellis Island officials spelled his name as above, though my father protested it was not correct. My father was known as Israel (Ike) Koidanov. After a brief stay in Long Island, N.Y. lived and died in Uniontown, PA.
November 22, 2010 at 6:52 PM
Coming late to this book, I have just read it and have been deeply moved by it, despite the oddities of Alex’s memory. I had even thought to trying to contact the writer, Mark Kurzem, only to find at this late date that he had died young in 2009.
July 6, 2011 at 10:42 AM
I read with shock and disbelief the story of Alex in THE MASCOT. It is very hard to believe that a human being can survive under such adverse conditions…..i kept praying after every page wondered how this world can be so cruel. I have a 15 year old son and when i narrated the story to him, he cried. The tale of Alex is not a hoax, God kept him alive so that he could tell. I hope a film about the MASCOT will one day be made. May Alex live for 110 years…….
October 4, 2011 at 9:53 AM
My grandfather, Samuel Fraynt, was born in Koidanov and moved to Minsk in late 20th or early 30th. His entire family, including parents, brothers and sisters with children, was killed at that day. My grandfather was drafted to the army in the first days of the war and cannot help them to survive. I remember as a kid I went to the Koidanov couple of times in every year to visit that mass grave.