Personally: Toy Soldier

As a child, Alex Kurzem faced a choice: be killed or join the killers.

In the midst of the Second World War, he was separated from his family and taken in by a group of soldiers as one of their own. He was made a member of Hitler’s army – a toy soldier with his own rifle and miniature SS uniform.

But what the soldiers didn’t know and what no one would know for decades: he was a Jewish boy masquerading as a Nazi to save his life.

Alex lives with this false identity for so long, he no longer remembers who he was before – forgetting his parents’ faces, his birthday, his own name. But before he dies, Alex is determined to find the identity and family stolen from him during the Holocaust. 

This is the story Alex would tell the world decades later, but doubts quickly took hold and wouldn’t let go. Could a story so unbelievable be true? Or is this a con to profit from the Holocaust? Eighty years on, is it possible to uncover who Alex really is?

Host Dan Goldberg unravels the true story.

Get lost in someone else’s life. From a mysterious childhood spent on the run, to a courageous escape from domestic violence, each season of Personally invites you to explore the human experience in all its complexity, one story — or season — at a time.

Hear episodes early and ad-free on CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Season 1 | Run, Hide, Repeat: a story of a childhood spent on the run.

Season 2 | Welcome to Paradise: a courageous escape from domestic violence.

Season 3 | Short Sighted: an attempt to explain what vision loss feels like by exploring how it sounds.

Season 4 | Sorry About The Kid: an emotional, deeply personal meditation on the loss of a sibling.