I went to see a musical recently. I’m not a fan of musicals but this was something quite extraordinary – a show about Latvian Nazi, Herberts Cukurs, who was eventually executed by the Israeli secret service.
The musical, with its unpromising title, ‘Cukurs, Herberts Cukurs’ is apparently part of a move to clear the man’s name. Many of Cukurs’s supports say that as no written evidence of his alleged crimes has ever come to light he was guilty of nothing other than bad judgement in joining Latvia’s notorious auxiliary police. They believe that it is this lack of evidence that led Mossad to execute him, rather than bring him to trial. They dismiss eyewitness accounts as mistakes but this raises the age-old question that could be applied to every single ‘unreliable’ witness in history - why would they lie?
Herberts Cukurs had been a popular figure in Latvia since before the war. In the 1930s he undertook solo flights to Africa and Asia. He was loved by the people of a newly independent country who looked on him with great national pride.
Latvia had been a part of the Russian Empire for centuries. It had a large Jewish community who had lived there in relative peace. They continued to do so during Latvia’s brief independence. In 1939, Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union and within a year over twenty five thousand Latvians had been slaughtered. It is little surprise then, that when German troops marched into Latvia a couple of years later they were welcomed as liberators. How could anyone have known that part of Germany’s plan for Eastern Europe would include wiping out the Jews, Roma, Slavs and other groups they considered undesirable? The Nazi’s plans for ethic Latvians were not much better. Many of them were to be deported to Siberia to make way for Germans who would be resettled in the Baltics.
In 1941 Viktors Arājs, a police officer with known connections to the Latvian fascist party, was approached to form the Arājs Kommandos – the Latvian SS. Cukurs was to be his right hand man. Their first task was to round up Latvia’s Jews. The Kommandos went on to burn down the Riga Synagogues, killing everyone inside. They earned themselves the nickname ‘kickers’ because of their job kicking people into trenches so they could be shot. They marched thousands of Jews to their deaths throughout the country.
The musical, with its unpromising title, ‘Cukurs, Herberts Cukurs’ is apparently part of a move to clear the man’s name. Many of Cukurs’s supports say that as no written evidence of his alleged crimes has ever come to light he was guilty of nothing other than bad judgement in joining Latvia’s notorious auxiliary police. They believe that it is this lack of evidence that led Mossad to execute him, rather than bring him to trial. They dismiss eyewitness accounts as mistakes but this raises the age-old question that could be applied to every single ‘unreliable’ witness in history - why would they lie?
Herberts Cukurs had been a popular figure in Latvia since before the war. In the 1930s he undertook solo flights to Africa and Asia. He was loved by the people of a newly independent country who looked on him with great national pride.
Latvia had been a part of the Russian Empire for centuries. It had a large Jewish community who had lived there in relative peace. They continued to do so during Latvia’s brief independence. In 1939, Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union and within a year over twenty five thousand Latvians had been slaughtered. It is little surprise then, that when German troops marched into Latvia a couple of years later they were welcomed as liberators. How could anyone have known that part of Germany’s plan for Eastern Europe would include wiping out the Jews, Roma, Slavs and other groups they considered undesirable? The Nazi’s plans for ethic Latvians were not much better. Many of them were to be deported to Siberia to make way for Germans who would be resettled in the Baltics.
In 1941 Viktors Arājs, a police officer with known connections to the Latvian fascist party, was approached to form the Arājs Kommandos – the Latvian SS. Cukurs was to be his right hand man. Their first task was to round up Latvia’s Jews. The Kommandos went on to burn down the Riga Synagogues, killing everyone inside. They earned themselves the nickname ‘kickers’ because of their job kicking people into trenches so they could be shot. They marched thousands of Jews to their deaths throughout the country.
Outside the Liepaja Olympic Centre, where the musical’s debut took place, one or two young men, wearing the Russian orange and black ribbons of St George, were grouped around a pathetically small collection of plastic dolls. The dolls, all wearing yellow stars of David, had been covered in fake blood. I counted - eleven in all - hardly an accurate portrayal of the death and terror caused by the Nazi occupation of Latvia but it was enough to cause a commotion.
Russian Dawn had come to protest. The ribbons, I was told by the group’s spokesman ‘Comrade’ Illarion Igorevich Gris, where to celebrate Russia’s defeat of Nazism. He was also eager to tell me that Herberts Cukurs was known as ‘The hangman of Riga’ and that he was infamous for taking children from their mother’s arms and shooting them.’ I had not been speaking to Gris for long before the riot police turned up to demand that the dolls be removed. Gris refused so the police called in their special weapon – a cleaning lady armed with a black plastic sack. Gris managed to convince her that removing his property would be tantamount to theft. Confused, she retreated back into the Olympic Centre leaving the police to face Russian Dawn alone. Not wanting to get involved, I slipped past the bloodied dolls and headed towards the theatre. On the steps I nodded at a British journalist I vaguely recognised. ‘I’m not looking forward to this.’ He confessed, ‘I expect the first scene will be something really tacky like a cute little Herberts playing with his paper aeroplane. And it will go downhill from there.’ The crowd ebbed towards the theatre door, carrying me with it. I was surrounded by immaculately dressed, middle-class people, some of whom I could imagine sitting up at the Eagle’s Nest, enjoying lively conversation with Adolph and Eva – but was I just making assumptions?
I found my seat and sat down. Music began to play and the curtains parted to reveal – Little Herberts playing with his paper aeroplane. The first half was as saccharine and sentimental as one could imagine. It lumbered through Herberts meeting his wife and instantly becoming a loving father, to him flying off to Gambia. Cukurs apparently crashed in Spain along the way. In the musical he is rescued by a sexy flamenco dancer – because everyone in Spain is a sexy flamenco dancer.
I found my seat and sat down. Music began to play and the curtains parted to reveal – Little Herberts playing with his paper aeroplane. The first half was as saccharine and sentimental as one could imagine. It lumbered through Herberts meeting his wife and instantly becoming a loving father, to him flying off to Gambia. Cukurs apparently crashed in Spain along the way. In the musical he is rescued by a sexy flamenco dancer – because everyone in Spain is a sexy flamenco dancer.
The only Jewish character in the story is introduced in the first half - Abrahams Shapiro, a wealthy businessman and the financier of Cukurs’s flight. Shapiro also conveniently has a adorable little son – more about him later.
The curtain eventually closed on the first half and I shot up from my seat, eager to get to the bar. Unfortunately, in my haste I was accosted by one of the many news crews set up in the foyer. Dazed, I could not find anything to say other than ‘Erm, it’s rubbish.’ What I would have said had I been thinking was that the musical was full of racial stereotypes and the lighting so ‘experimental’ I could hardly see what was going on. The minimalistic set was interesting and there were some beautiful tableaus but the music did sound a little too like the soundtrack to The Mission in places. But overall, I think the most offensive part of the whole first act was the ‘black-face’ performance in the Gambia scene. There are one or two people of African descent in Latvia, some of whom have appeared on stage with the Latvian National Opera. I have no idea why one of these actors could not have been cast for this part.
The curtain eventually closed on the first half and I shot up from my seat, eager to get to the bar. Unfortunately, in my haste I was accosted by one of the many news crews set up in the foyer. Dazed, I could not find anything to say other than ‘Erm, it’s rubbish.’ What I would have said had I been thinking was that the musical was full of racial stereotypes and the lighting so ‘experimental’ I could hardly see what was going on. The minimalistic set was interesting and there were some beautiful tableaus but the music did sound a little too like the soundtrack to The Mission in places. But overall, I think the most offensive part of the whole first act was the ‘black-face’ performance in the Gambia scene. There are one or two people of African descent in Latvia, some of whom have appeared on stage with the Latvian National Opera. I have no idea why one of these actors could not have been cast for this part.
The second half of the musical dealt with Cukurs’ role in the war. It told of his apparent coercion into working first with the Russians and then the Nazis. According to the musical, the only death Cukurs was involved in was the shooting of Abrahams Shapiro. In the scene, Cukurs expels Shapiro from his home. Shapiro walks offstage and a shot is heard. In remorse Cukurs takes in Shapiro’s son who shows his gratitude by singing a heart-warming song of thanks. Abrahams Shapiro did exist although he was not a wealthy financer but the 16 year old son of a factory clerk. He did not die but was one of the few survivors of the Holocaust. In real life, Cukurs expelled Shapiro’s entire family from their home and then moved into it himself. He would have the boy come to the flat and play the piano for him. Shapiro’s parents were both murdered by the death squads but his sister managed to escape to Russia. Shapiro himself was among the thousands of Jews rounded up by the Arājs Kommandos and sent to concentration camps. After the war he made his way to the United States and ended up in Las Vegas where he became a well-respected violinist and band leader. He also wrote the musical score for, and appeared in several Hollywood movies. You may know him as Sasha Semenoff.
In the final scene of the musical Cukurs stands on the stage, shielded by Shapiro’s imaginary son as everyone points an accusing finger at the collaborator while chanting ‘murderer!’
In the final scene of the musical Cukurs stands on the stage, shielded by Shapiro’s imaginary son as everyone points an accusing finger at the collaborator while chanting ‘murderer!’
The curtain fell and I was relieved it was all over. But it was not. The audience jumped to its feet and applauded eagerly. This applause continued way longer than was comfortable. I myself stood briefly, but only to allow a couple past as they slinked out of the theatre.
After the war, Cukurs fled to Brazil. In 1965, desperate for money, he was lured to Uruguay by the promise of a business deal. Once there he was confronted by four Mossad agents. He pleaded to be allowed to speak but instead they shot him in the head, placed his body in a trunk, called the press and then went home. No one will ever hear what Herbert Cukurs had to say, not even those who needed to hear it most – the families of his victims.
Over a coffee in a Liepaja café, I asked a young Latvian friend if he had heard that the musical had taken place. He had not. He did not even know who Herbert Cukurs was. When I told him about this controversial figure he said he had vague memories of learning about him at school, but had pretty much forgotten him. Maybe it’s about time the rest of us did too.
Follow the link to The Violinist, a short video about Sasha Semenoff.
After the war, Cukurs fled to Brazil. In 1965, desperate for money, he was lured to Uruguay by the promise of a business deal. Once there he was confronted by four Mossad agents. He pleaded to be allowed to speak but instead they shot him in the head, placed his body in a trunk, called the press and then went home. No one will ever hear what Herbert Cukurs had to say, not even those who needed to hear it most – the families of his victims.
Over a coffee in a Liepaja café, I asked a young Latvian friend if he had heard that the musical had taken place. He had not. He did not even know who Herbert Cukurs was. When I told him about this controversial figure he said he had vague memories of learning about him at school, but had pretty much forgotten him. Maybe it’s about time the rest of us did too.
Follow the link to The Violinist, a short video about Sasha Semenoff.
http://video.lasvegassun.com/media/video/2009/01/20090125_theviolinist_720p.mp4