Our Nazi: An American Suburb's Encounter With Evil, Soffer- B+

         In December 1982, Dr. Jack Swanson, the principal of Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), read in the Chicago Sun-Times that the US was seeking to deport Reinhold Kulle, his chief custodian, for his membership in the SS and his role in a Silesian slave labor camp.

         A teenager and member of the Hitler Youth, Kulle joined the Death Head's Division in 1940. He was seriously wounded in Russia in early 1942. Unfit for combat duty, he was assigned to Gross-Rosen. He served there for two-and-a-half years. During his time there, he met and married Gertrude, who gave birth to a daughter, Ulricke. They escaped to the American sector at war's end, their son Rainer was born in 1949, and they received a visa for the US in 1957. Thousands of former Nazis made it to America, and Chicago was a favored destination. In 1959, Kulle obtained employment at OPRF even though his marriage certificate referred to his SS rank. A hard worker with many skills, Kulle was promoted as he and his family enjoyed life in suburban America in the 1960's. He became the "staff and faculty members go to," and was known throughout the community as someone who always performed his job well and helped others. His supervision and management of the department,  as well as his work ethic, led to the school being considered one of the best maintained in the area.

         In the 1970's, the US increased its efforts to find and deport former Nazi's and their collaborators. The Supreme Court ruled that the deception in the obtainment of a visa was enough to deport someone, it was not necessary to prove specific wrongdoing. In 1981, a cross-referencing evaluation of German documents and US visa records surfaced Kulle's name. When questioned, he acknowledged lying on his visa application. As his deportation hearing took place in a federal court, it garnered little attention in Oak Park, where the school board decided to say and do nothing until the court ruled. Nonetheless, the issue was beginning to cause a crack in the community's proud belief in its diverse and welcoming philosophy as the supporters of the widely admired custodian lined up against the much smaller Jewish community. The school's faculty weighed in requesting Kulle's dismissal. After colleagues, his Jewish daughter in law, and Hispanic grandson testified about his character, Kulle took the stand. The essence of his defense was that he was a combat soldier who marched on guard duty, did not persecute the prisoners and indeed, didn't even see them from where he was stationed. And there was no question on his visa application asking about the SS. The school board met with Kulle and at the end of the discussion, he stated, "I feel very, very bad. I just wish we had won the war." In January 1984, Kulle was placed on terminal leave, and would no longer work for the district effective the end of the academic year. The majority of people in the community opposed his separation. That May, two hundred and fifty people came to his retirement party to honor and praise him. That summer, the deportation order was issued, and after an appeal, Reinhold Kulle was sent to West Germany in 1987. He died in 2006.

         This is a very well done micro-history shared on a broad canvas of the war, the Holocaust, SS practices, US's postwar immigration policies, and the shocking amount of antisemitic, Nazi supporting deplorables in the Chicago area and on a national level. Patrick Buchanan stands out as particularly disgraceful. It should be noted that the author currently teaches at Lake Forest High School.