The Jewish Nazi?

Angela Cerasi colour graded this feature length documentary for Mint Pictures in Sydney, grading in person in their suite for the initial briefing session before continuing to grade remotely from her Brisbane home studio. 

The Jewish Nazi? tells the staggering story of Melbourne’s Alex Kurzem, a young boy who escaped the massacre of his family’s shtetl in Belarus in 1941. He survived in the woods during one of the coldest winters on record, only to be captured by a Latvian battalion. Instead of killing him, they took pity on him and gave him a new name, adorned him with a uniform and a gun, and made him their child mascot, “Hitler’s youngest soldier.”

Building on the international bestselling book ‘The Mascot’ and an award-winning ABC documentary, the film goes above and beyond, tracing Alex’s journey to Australia with his adopted Latvian family, and his eventual life in the Melbourne suburb of Altona. The BBC have described the story as “one of the most remarkable stories to emerge from the War” while some refused to believe it, accusing him of being a hoax, a liar, a charlatan and a fraudster.  Alex kept his secret for almost 50 years, before embarking on a quest to find his real identity. Along his journey, he had four false names and was reunited with the incorrect family, before DNA testing reveals the truth. The documentary touches on the impact for all of Alex’s family members — both adopted family and his long-lost family. 

In 2023 the film released as part of the Jewish Film Festival (JFF) in Australia, including being the closing night film for both Sydney and Melbourne.  A version was also produced for SBS.  To see another feature documentary graded by Angela, check out the trailer for Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story, here.