Personally: Toy Soldier
CBC
<p>As a child, Alex Kurzem faced a choice: be killed or join the killers.</p><p><br></p><p>In the midst of the Second World War, he was separated from his family and taken in by a group of soldiers as one of their own. He was made a member of Hitler’s army – a toy soldier with his own rifle and miniature SS uniform.</p><p><br></p><p>But what the soldiers didn’t know and what no one would know for decades: he was a Jewish boy masquerading as a Nazi to save his life.</p><p><br></p><p>Alex lives with this false identity for so long, he no longer remembers who he was before – forgetting his parents’ faces, his birthday, his own name. But before he dies, Alex is determined to find the identity and family stolen from him during the Holocaust. </p><p><br></p><p>This is the story Alex would tell the world decades later, but doubts quickly took hold and wouldn’t let go. Could a story so unbelievable be true? Or is this a con to profit from the Holocaust? Eighty years on, is it possible to uncover who Alex really is?</p><p><br></p><p>Host Dan Goldberg unravels the true story.</p><p><br></p><p>Get lost in someone else’s life. From a mysterious childhood spent on the run, to a courageous escape from domestic violence, each season of Personally invites you to explore the human experience in all its complexity, one story — or season — at a time.</p><p><br></p><p>Hear episodes early and ad-free on <a href="https://apple.co/cbcstories">CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts</a>.</p><p><br></p><p>Season 1 | Run, Hide, Repeat: a story of a childhood spent on the run.</p><p>Season 2 | Welcome to Paradise: a courageous escape from domestic violence.</p><p>Season 3 | Short Sighted: an attempt to explain what vision loss feels like by exploring how it sounds.</p><p>Season 4 | Sorry About The Kid: an emotional, deeply personal meditation on the loss of a sibling.</p>
- 2 minutes 1 secondIntroducing: Creation Myth
Introducing the new season of Personally, called Creation Myth. Helena does not want to have kids. Kid, child, baby - not for her. She’s just not parent material. So why is she obsessed with parenthood? Why does she ask her friends who are parents for every detail? She’s in her forties now. The door is almost closed. And suddenly, she wonders. Does she want a kid?
20 January 2026, 5:10 am - 1 hour 7 minutesResurrection, Episode 8: San Francisco, 2022
The final chapter in our series on Daryl Allen. We end the story where it started.
Email us at [email protected]
The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
15 December 2025, 8:11 am - 53 minutes 21 secondsResurrection, Episode 7: Mustang Zero-One
We share Daryl's play with the world.
The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
8 December 2025, 8:11 am - 45 minutes 55 secondsResurrection, Episode 6: What Happened in Vietnam
This is the story of what happened in Vietnam.
The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
1 December 2025, 8:11 am - 1 hour 1 minuteResurrection, Episode 5: Janet
Janet's side of the story.
The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
24 November 2025, 8:11 am - 33 minutes 32 secondsResurrection, Episode 4: Kansas (Part Two)
In the second part of our trip to Kansas, we go on a hunt for the Allen Family Farm.
The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
17 November 2025, 8:11 am - 35 minutes 23 secondsResurrection, Episode 3: Kansas (Part One)
In this episode, we go to Kansas.
The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
10 November 2025, 8:11 am - 39 minutes 22 secondsResurrection, Episode 2: Four Christmases
Daryl and Dan were in love, until something happened that changed everything. This is the story of the evolution of Daryl and Dan's relationship; a queer love story set against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis.
The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseildes arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
3 November 2025, 8:15 am - 34 minutes 23 secondsResurrection, Episode 1: San Francisco, 1979
Daryl Allen always wanted to be a playwright, but before his art found success, his life was cut short by HIV. Before he dies, he leaves one of his scripts with an ex-boyfriend, asking his ex to do something with the play. 25 years later, the script is given to Dane Stewart, a playwright living in Montreal, and he falls down the rabbit hole.
The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseil
des arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for
the Arts.
3 November 2025, 7:11 am - 3 minutes 11 secondsIntroducing: Resurrection
In a moment of fate in 2017, Dane Stewart is gifted a bundle of love letters and theatrical scripts, written by a queer man named Daryl Allen before AIDS took his life in 1991. Along with the letters, Dane is given a task: tell Daryl's story and give his art the audience it lost when his life was cut short.
Part investigation, part documentary, and part love story, Resurrection asks us what we leave behind when we go. Daryl proves that for every person lost to AIDS, there's a life story just waiting to be resurrected.
The creation of this podcast was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseil des arts de Montréal, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
31 October 2025, 4:10 am - 32 minutes 49 secondsNO, Part Four: Questions
Many listeners were left with a lot of lingering questions and thoughts after the first three episodes. In the final installment of ‘NO’ we respond to some of the questions that we heard a lot of.
What do I tell my kids? What if my no DOES mean yes? Additionally, some of the producers and trusted sex educator, Samara Breger unpack some of the blind spots and larger themes from the last three episodes.
30 September 2025, 7:11 am - More Episodes? Get the App