These are some of the reviews of Mint’s latest documentary, ‘Hitler’s Jewish Soldier?’, which premiered on SBS on February 8.
The documentary, the first in SBS’s ‘Australia Uncovered’ series, tells the staggering story of Alex Kurzem, a young Jewish boy who became a “mascot” for a Nazi battalion during WWII, then hid his secret for almost 50 years in Melbourne before embarking on a mission to discover his real identity. Along the way, he had numerous false names, a fake birth date, a family reunion that wasn’t and a DNA revelation with a blistering sting in the tail.
‘Hitler’s Jewish Soldier?’ was the No. 1 show of the night on SBS. It accrued 213,000 viewers overnight plus some 30,000 On Demand viewers, with an 8.4% share of the market.
TV Tonight gave the documentary four stars, saying: “If you thought Who Do You Think You Are? was full of ancestral twists and turns, then Goldberg’s narrative will surely keep you guessing. It is part detective tale, part Mythbusters, and part WWII time capsule…”
The Green Guide in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age gave the ‘Australia Uncovered’ series four stars, adding: “As usual it’s an absorbing, illuminating and varied collection that’s especially valuable at a time when homegrown, independently produced documentaries are rare on free TV.”
The Sunday Age and Sun-Herald lauded the documentary as “visually striking” while TV Blackbox described the series as “gripping stand-alone documentaries”. And Good Weekend magazine published a four-page spread here.
The feature version, titled ‘The Jewish Nazi?’, won the Best Feature Documentary Award at Cannes World Film Festival in 2023.
• ‘Hitler’s Jewish Soldier?’ is available to stream on SBS On Demand: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/2301114947896
