On-Site: Book & Author: Our Nazi: An American Suburb’s Encounter with Evil

The secret life of Reinhold Kulle was a stunning revelation that sent shockwaves across the country. Kulle, former chief custodian at Oak Park and River Forest High School (Illinois) became a target of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) in the summer of 1981.

As OSI raced to uncover Hitler’s men in the United States, the Chicago Sun-Times broke the news, revealing Kulle’s former life as Nazi, a member of the SS, a guard at one of the Reich’s most brutal slave labor camps. 

Neighbors were left to reconcile horrific accusations with the helpful, kind, and soft-spoken man they thought they knew. Though Nazis loom in the American consciousness as evil epitomized, the efforts to bring them to justice were often fraught with controversy.

Join Author and longtime OPRF teacher Michael Soffer as he dives into his community’s tumultuous response to the Kulle Affair to explore how and why American communities rose to defend their Nazi neighbors, even after their gruesome pasts were revealed.

Book signing to follow.

Reservations required. Free to the public