In the suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, a shocking revelation rocked the community in December 1982. The news broke that Reinhold Kulle, the 61-year-old chief custodian at Oak Park and River Forest High School, had been an SS guard at a concentration camp during World War II. This discovery exposed ugly rifts within the community and raised questions about how a former Nazi ended up living a quiet life in the Chicago suburbs.
Author Michael Soffer, a local teacher, delves into this dark chapter in Oak Park’s history in his book “Our Nazi: An American Suburb’s Encounter With Evil.” Soffer’s research highlights the early life of Kulle, tracing his journey from joining the Hitler Youth in 1936 to becoming an SS guard at Gross-Rosen, a slave labor camp. Despite his dark past, Kulle managed to immigrate to the U.S. in 1957 under the Displaced Persons Act, concealing his Nazi ties and settling in Oak Park.
Soffer’s narrative explores Oak Park’s transformation from a conservative town to a model of integration, shedding light on the community’s slow progress in overcoming racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Catholicism. The book also delves into the post-World War II era of Nazi hunting, detailing how efforts to bring former Nazis to justice waned during the Cold War but were revived by individuals like Tuviah Friedman and Simon Wiesenthal.
One of the most striking aspects of Soffer’s book is the response of Oak Park residents to Kulle’s past. While some defended him based on his long service to the school, others expressed blatantly anti-Semitic sentiments. The school board’s deliberations over Kulle’s employment status and the polarized reactions from the community form a significant part of the narrative, showcasing the complexities of complicity and justice.
Soffer also emphasizes the importance of historical memory, noting the lack of Holocaust education in the U.S. and the gradual fading of memory surrounding Kulle’s trial. Despite the collective amnesia that shrouded the events for decades, the author’s meticulous research and access to untapped sources reveal a compelling local story with broader implications for how we confront the past and its lingering consequences in the present.
Through “Our Nazi,” Soffer invites readers to reflect on the challenges of remembering and reckoning with history, urging us to confront uncomfortable truths and grapple with the complexities of justice and accountability. His work serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of facing our past to build a more inclusive and just future for all.
