Latvia: Israel slams musical celebrating Nazi’s life

Nazi war criminal Herberts Cukurs is a
national hero in Latvia for standing up to 
Russian forces. (YouTube screenshot)

Israel’s Foreign Ministry slammed the production in Latvia of a show celebrating the life of Nazi war criminal Herbert Cukurs.

Titled “Cukurs, Herbert Cukurs,” the musical premiered earlier this month. The play is based on the life of the deputy commander of the Arajs Kommando force that participated in the near annihilation of Latvian Jewry after the Nazis invaded Latvia. Israel’s Mossad spy agency reportedly killed Cukurs in South America. The Latvian government has criticized but not banned the privately produced work.

According to Holocaust survivors’ testimonies, Cukurs personally killed and tortured Jews, [Efraim Zuroff, who heads the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center]  added. Many in the Baltic nations today view Nazi collaborators as national heroes because they fought the Russian army and Moscow’s grip on the region before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

More: Times of Israel