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Nazi death squad leader: The musical


If you are constantly battling to try and disprove Russian claims that your state is essentially neo-Nazi, it doesn’t help if an evening of musical entertainment then pops up giving Nazi death squads the razzle-dazzle of a Broadway musical.

That’s exactly what has happened in Latvia where – in a move absurdly reminiscent of Mel Brooks’ classic spoof The Producers – a musical opens on October 11 about Herberts Cukurs, deputy commander of the genocidal “Arajs gang” that slaughtered around 25,000 people, as far as historical records show without the benefit of tap dance routines.

Apparently, it’s a musical biography titled “Cukurs. Herberts Cukurs.” (as in “Bond. James Bond.”) and will premiere in Cukurs’ home town of Liejapa. A preview clip posted to YouTube contains a generic power ballad promising to tell a tale of “the heavens where my name is written.” 

Read entire article at Johnson's Russia List