Holocaust survivor in Australia faces questions of authenticity

I found your article about Alex Kurzem very interesting and important. After I read the book, "Mascot", I was so excited about the possibility that Alex was a survivor of our family, the Halperins from Koidanov. I learned from my grandparents' passports that my father and his family came from Koidanov, emigrating to the U.S. in 1910. Since I never heard about who was left in that town, I was fascinated by the possibility that "Ilya" or Alex might be a cousin of mine. I have been in email contact with Dr.Colleen Fitzpatrick and Prof.Barry Resnick for the past couple of years, trying to glean evidence that would help me substantiate my hope that I had found a surviving relative. I called Ilya last spring, spoke to him, asking him to do a DNA test. He avoided all my requests. I was bold enough to ask him if he was circumcised (eize chutzpa!). He said of course, that's what caused him so much trouble during the war. But there is no proof of the circumcision because he refuses to provide a medical letter to that effect. By the way, I live in Netanya with my husband, Ervin.