Reinhold Kulle was the popular chief custodian at Oak Park and River Forest High School for more than 20 years. But he had a secret life which began to unravel when Kulle became a target of the U.S. Office of Special Investigations in 1981.
Author Michael Soffer shared the details of Kulle’s undoing and the surprising reactions of many members of the Oak Park community during an author event about his book, “Our Nazi: A Suburban Encounter With Evil,” on Dec. 5 at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie.
The author, a longtime teacher at Oak Park and River Forest High School, created a Holocaust class at the school.
During the presentation, Soffer, who moved to Lake Forest High School this year, spoke about how many Nazis came to the United States after World War II and were admitted because they claimed to be displaced persons.
“It was easier for a former Nazi to enter the U.S. than their victims,” Soffer reported.
The author shared photos and Chicago addresses of several other Nazis, with violent pasts, who found refuge in this area.
He noted that Kulle was a “dedicated, loyal, committed Nazi” who was promoted multiple times. The Gross-Rosen slave labor camp where he worked was so brutal that suicide was common, Soffer said. Guards encouraged prisoners to try to escape and would then use them for target practice. Of the 120,000 prisoners in Kulle’s camp, 40,000 died.
Kulle hid his Nazi history from authorities in this country and was granted a visa in 1957. He was considered such an exemplary employee at Oak Park and River Forest High School that, in 1977, “a local paper profiled and praised him,” Soffer said.
The author noted that the reason Nazis were able to live in this country was, “not that these people were great at hiding. No one was looking.”
When the facts about Kulle came to light, “Most of the faculty didn’t want him removed,” Soffer said. Kulle was never fired. Instead, he was offered early retirement with full benefits.
The author showed letters written to local newspapers supporting Kulle. And there was even a retirement dinner for Kulle, which was packed, Soffer reported.
In 1987, Kulle was finally deported. The Nazi showed no regret for what he had done, Soffer indicated, but only declared, “I wish we had won the war.”
During an interview prior to the presentation, Soffer, who grew up in River Forest and attended Oak Park and River Forest High School, said that the Reinhold Kulle history “was kind of a story we all heard growing up. It was always described as a controversial moment that was difficult for the community.”
When he began researching the book, Soffer said, “It was really disappointing to hear that people had supported a literal and admitted Nazi.”
He observed that Oak Park has a long history of antisemitism, particularly in the early days. He noted that major chapters of far-right institutions were based in the town and, until the last four decades, Jews weren’t allowed in Oak Park’s country clubs.
Prisoners at the Gross-Rosen slave labor camp where Kulle worked included members of the Polish Resistance, because the camp was located in what is now Poland. There were also political prisoners there.
“Any group that the Nazis persecuted would have been there,” Soffer said.
Because it was a slave labor camp, prisoners tended to be younger and more fit than at other camps.
Soffer said he decided to write the book about Reinhold Kulle because, “I thought it was a part of American history that had not been fully explored.” However, writing a book wasn’t his original goal when he began researching the topic.
“I was looking for guest speakers to come to the Holocaust studies class I was teaching at Oak Park and River Forest High School,” Soffer explained. What he discovered about what happened at the school intrigued him.
“You couldn’t design a better case study in a lab for: Is there any community that was going to be different,” he declared, noting Oak Park is known for being progressive and integrated.
In reality, Soffer said, “Many Americans opposed the efforts to bring Nazis to justice.”
Soffer’s extensive research for the book project began with him checking the local newspapers, then contacting people who had written to the local newspapers to interview. He also checked records from the high school and interviewed the leaders who had tried to get Kulle removed from the high school. He read related documents from the Justice Department and visited the archives at the Virginia Holocaust Museum. He also interviewed Justice Department employees who worked the case. In addition, Soffer did extensive reading about the deportation process and about the camps.
“The legacy of the Holocaust continues,” Soffer declared. “I think it’s important for us as Americans to shine a real light on how we responded as a country to the Holocaust, particularly in light of rising antisemitism. We shut our doors to survivors in the aftermath of the Holocaust, and we opened them to Nazis, and we defended those Nazis when they were caught.”
But through the efforts of some true heroes, the Nazis in America “were brought to justice in the end,” Soffer said.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
