Figure 1.--Here we see Sergeant Jekab Kulis with Alex probably in 1943. Kulis saved Alex as he was about to be shot. Alex never understood why Kulis saved him and they never discussed it. Presumably it had something to do wih his appearance.

Sgt. Jekab Kulis and Latvian Police Batalions

We know very little about Sergeant Jekab Kulis except what Alex Kurzem tells us about him. We have no information on his background. As a Latvian born in the 1900s, he probably spoke both Latvian and Russian. We are not sure about other languages. We do not know why he decided to enlist in German paramilitary units. The individuals involved ahd a range of motives including personal preservation, financial gain, patriotism, anti-Communist feelings and anti-Semitism among them. We do not know just where Kukis fit into this mix, bit as a seargent he must have imoressed his German superiors and aligned himself with their goals. Members of the 18th Kurzeme Battalion / 18th Schuma (Police) Battalion were volunteers. The Balts were not drafted like Germans, although Balts were drafted subsequently, often unfer the guise of labor service. Latvian police units were organized by the Germans quickly after the reached Lithuania and Latvia. These units played an important role in the Holocaust, assisting the German Einsatzgruppen to kill Jews. [Mann, p. 283.] Einsatzgruppe A commanded by Franz Walter Stahlecker operated in the Baltics. Stahlecker ordered Lt. Colonel Voldemārs Veiss to organize local police fiorces to operate under SS control with the Eisatzgruppen. [Lumens, p. 266.] We are not sure, however, to what extent they were told that they would be used to kill Jews, but it would have been very quickly apparent. This may have not ben mentioned until after they had joined the unit. Men in these units were responsible for killing thousands of Jews. These various Latvian auxiliary police units played a major role in the murdering of Jews in the Baltics and neighboring areas of Poland and Bylorussia. [Ezergailis] The men in these units would have killed thousands of Jews. The actual count is unknown and at this point unknowable. Alex described a horific actiion in which Jews were slaugtered by a Lithuanian police unit working with Einsatzgruppen A. Details on the operations of the 18th Kurzeme Battalion are limited. We know that it was incorporated into a Waffen-SS unit and used at times in front line operations and at tim in the rear in anti-partisan operations. Such operations in 1941 or 42 almost certainly including killing Jews. This is confirmed by Kurzem. [Kurzem] After 1941 and 42, they would have been involved in actual anti-partisan operations as so few Jews survived. After mid-1942 there were few Jews left in the Baltics and what is now Belarus. As a result, Kulis and apparently most of the rest of the Batalion became part of Waffen-SS units to supress partisan bands and to serve on the front line. While the first Latvian units were volunteers, subsequent unit were fomed with men concripted under various guises. These subsequent units did not have a mjor role in the Holocaust as the Balticand Soviet Jews under German cintrolled had already been killed. Alex says Kublis saved him as he was about to be shot with a grouo of Jews. This now seems not to be the case as Alex may not have been Jewish. But Alex's description of actions against Jews and Kublis' participation are so vivid and in agreement with German killing actions that they are likely to be true. Alex spent a great deal of time with Kulis. He never told Alex why they were killing Jews or why he decided to save him. He once even took Alex with him on home leave. Kulis survived the War. He immigrated to the United States (1951). This part of his life is well documented. Many Balts who fought with the Germans lied about their war time activiities, especially involvement in war crimes. He married and had a son. He died there in 1978. Most of the informatiion about Kulis' war time activities comes from Kurzem's account. A researcher attempting to evaluate the case tells us, "Kulis' family put Dr. Fitzpatrick in touch with an elderly soldier who was with Kulis in the military. He also confirmed the story was not true. Kulis is depicted in the book as a cold-blooded killer. After the war Kulis worked for the U.S. Army at Nuremberg - the U.S. Army did not bring war criminals into their employ following the war. In 1972 Kurzem provided support for brutal Nazi killer, SS-Waffen Colonel Karlis Lobe. Kurzem signed an affidavit stating he was grateful for Lobe's care; yet Kurzem had no trouble filing a claim for reparations with the Jewish Claims Conference claiming he was a victim of Nazi persecution." [Schoen] One note here. We think it is true that the U.S. Army did not employ war criminals, with the exception of scientists. But we should probably add 'knowingly' here.

Identifinders International

A reader writes, "I am writing regarding the page on your site that provides a biography of the Latvian soldier Jekabs Kulis, who is mentioned in the bestselling book The Mascot. See http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/hol/cou/ber/ind/k/kur/kur-sgtjk.html I read your statement with interest: "Kulis and the other men in his unit would have killed thousands of Jews" Also: "It is likely that the largest number if Jews were killed in operations during 1941 like the in which Alex's family was slaugtered". Could you supply me with proof for these and other statements you have posted on your website? Over the last few years, along with my colleague Dr. Barry Resnick, I have done extensive research into The Mascot story, and have found nothing to confirm that Jekabs Kulis was a Jew-killer, nor that Alex Kurzem is Ilya Galperin whose family was murdered by Nazis in October 1942. As an unbiased researcher, I would be thrilled to obtain proof from you of the two statements referenced above. I am aware that the Kulis family are organizing a lawsuit against the parties responsible for creating and disseminating what they believe is gross untruth about Jekabs. If you have proof that he was indeed complicit in "operations...like the [one] in which Alex's family was slaughtered", you would save the Kulis family much time and money if you would forward it to me so I could give it to their attorneys. Indisputable proof that The Mascot story is true would also be a relief to Dr. Resnick and me. Although we have been tireless in our search for new evidence to confirm or disprove The Mascot story, the proof that you seem to have uncovered has eluded us for the last five years." [Fitzpatrick]

HBC Response

World War II is a massive, complicated story. As I have deaveled into various aspects of the War and Holocaust. I am constantly revising my understanding. I now believe that itis unlikely that Alex was Jewish, although it is difficult to know for sure as he refused to submit to a DNA test, Now it is difficult to know what individuals like Kulis did. I do not believe that it is reasonable to apply evidentuary standards of court room proof to these issues in a war time environment. And my attitude is that these individuals who insist on this are either not serious historians or Holocaust deniers. What can be established with some degree of certaintly is what units did. Alexis' tetimony itself makes it clear that the Latvians and Kulis was involved in kelling Jews. There is no doubt that the Germans given the enormous task of killing millions of Jews recruited people in the Baltics and the Ukraine to assist in the efforts begun by the relatively small Einsatzgruppen. There is an enormous body of information to substantiate this. The Einsatzgruopen were recruited from various German police fornations and the Waffen SS. To assist them they rescruited people in the Baltics to serve in local police formations and death camp guards. The evidence here is irrefutable. The cover story was anti-partisan activities, but initally there wee no anti-partisan activities in the Baltics. There was widespread support for the Gemans. The Jews were labeled as parisans what ever their age or gender, As a result, Latvian and Lithuanian police formations formed by the Gemans were primarily tasjed with assisting the Einsatzgruppen kill Jews. They had no other function in 1941 and 42. The historical record here is very clear. After 1942 they became more involved in real anti-partisan activities because the Jews had been largely murdered and the Red Army had begun to recover.

Sources

Ezergailis, Andrew. The Holocaust in Latvia.

Fitzpatrick, Colleen, PhD. Identifinders International

Kurzem, Alex. The Mascot.

Lumens (2006).

Mann, Michael. The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

Schoen, Jay. E-mail message, May 25, 2012.

Created: 3:54 AM 6/29/2012
Last updated: 1:24 AM 11/25/2013