Features
Was a Nazi war criminal living in St. James forced to hang himself by a Jewish “avenger” in 1960?
By BERNIE BELLAN The story of an alleged Nazi war criminal by the name of Alexander Laak, who was found hanging in his St. James garage in 1960, is one that has been revisited in this newspaper several times.
In October 1987, the late Gene Telpner first broached the story in our pages in one of his columns, when he wrote the following:
Quite a few columns ago I wrote about a book called “Forged in Fury”, which detailed the hanging in Winnipeg of an alleged war criminal by one or more Israeli “agents”.
They apparently had flown here, carried out the execution, and then caught a plane out of the city the same day.
At the time, the Free Press story reported the man’s death as a suicide, and the name given in the item was not his real one. His real name was Alexander Laak, and the wartime actions in which he allegedly participated took place in Estonia, near Tallin.
At one time, Laak worked at the RCAF base in Winnipeg. When he came to Canada from Europe he had received “clearance” from the British and Americans, but apparently the Russians wanted him back for further investigation.
Now all of this original story was in 1960, and not until 1970, when the book Forged in Fury was published, did the details emerge. Those details came as a shock to Arthur Drache, son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Drache of this city, for several reasons.
For one, Arthur was a Free Press reporter when the “suicide” was printed and covered the story. Asked about it, Drache said, “We wrote a couple of stories “which received page one play, but did not give his name because of libel laws.”
But when Drache, who is now Arthur Drache Q.C. with the law firm of Drache Rotenberg in Ottawa, read “Forged in Fury”, he got full details for the first time. He wrote to the Free Press to tell them about the book’s revelations, but says he never got a response from the newspaper.
One of the saddest parts of the story to Drache is the fact that he and Laak’s son were classmates at Gordon Bell, and played on the school football team.
Laak was never publicly identified in Winnipeg while he was alive. It is believed that there had been accusations from some sources, but he protested his innocence.
Arthur Drache explained, “Only his ‘suicide’ allowed fuller disclosures and until I read “Forged in Fury” I was quite at a loss to explain his actions.”
Subsequently, in a February 20, 1991 issue of The Jewish Post & News, Myron Love had this story:
Manitoba RCMP looking into 30-year-old suicide of alleged Nazi
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have re-opened an investigation into the apparent suicide 30 years ago of an alleged Estonian Nazi living in Winnipeg. The new investigation was requested by the provincial Attorney-General’s Department, following an article on the case last winter in the Winnipeg Free Press, and a subsequent letter by a member of the public to the attorney-general, asking that this possible murder be investigated, in light of the war crimes prosecutions taking place in the country.
Alexander Laak was found hanging in his garage on September 6, 1960, according to Sargent Wes Border of the RCMP’s General Investigation Section. The section is looking into the matter, after a series of newspaper reports from the Soviet Union, alleging Laak was a Nazi collaborator. The Winnipeg police investigated his death at the time.
A coroner’s inquest, headed by Dr. I.O. Fryer, then the province’s chief medical officer, ruled the death an apparent suicide, and the case was closed.
In the early 1970s, an author named Michael Elkin published a book called “Forged in Fury”, in which he described how an Israeli agent named Arnie Berg came to Winnipeg from South America, and gave Laak the choice of committing suicide or having him and his wife killed by Berg.
Last February, Winnipeg Free Press reporter Dave Roberts wrote a story on the case, with reference to Elkins’ report. (Roberts is unavailable for comment. He is currently in the Middle East.) The article also led to the attack on retired journalist Keith Rutherford by a couple of Skinheads in Alberta last year. The Skinheads claimed they were paying him back for exposing Laak. One claimed to be Laak’s son, but there is no record of any family. (Ed. note: Gene Telpner’s story does disclose that Laak had a son – also someone whom Arthur Drache knew, so the notion that Laak’s son may have been part of a group that attacked Rutherford is certainly plausible.)
Sgt. Border isn’t optimistic the GIS investigation will turn up anything. “Thirty years is a long time,” he says. “People are dead. Reports are no longer available to us.”
He reports contacts have been made with the war crimes investigation unit in Ottawa to check their information on Estonian war crimes, and with Israel to find out if Elkin’s book was fact or fiction. “We’re waiting to hear back to see if we should look into this more seriously,” he says. “With everything going on in the Middle East, and considering this is 30 years old, I don’t expect this matter will be pushed to the forefront. It’s a case that will not be easy to investigate.”
We’re playing catch-up.”
In the summer of 2014 I had written about a book titled “The Avengers”, which was about a group of Holocaust survivors led by Abba Kovner (who went on to become a famous Israeli poet). Subsequent to that book review I was reminded of the story of Alexander Laak, and I decided to try to find out whether there was anything more I could find out about the story – which apparently had reached a dead end.
I decided to attempt to contact Arthur Drache who, Gene Telpner had written, had actually covered the story of Alexander Laak’s “suicide” in 1960. Arthur Drache has been one of Canada’s best known tax attorneys for many years, has been the recipient of many awards. Several years ago Gerry Posner profiled Arthur Drache in an article for our paper titled , which can be found on our website at .
I called Arthur Drache in 2014 – and was surprised when he answered his phone himself. In any event, I recall that Mr. Drache was quite obliging – and had vivid memories of his own personal involvement in the Alexander Laak story. Here is what I wrote in August 2014:
As Gene Telpner mentions in his story, in 1960 Drache was working as a reporter for the Free Press. Drache told me, during a phone conversation, that he was a student at Brandeis University at the time.
Drache says that his assignment editor had received a tip that Laak was living in Winnipeg. According to Drache, it came from a Russian source. The Estonian community in Winnipeg was quite small at the time, Drache said, and it was an easy matter for him to track Laak down.
He told me that he and another reporter went to Laak’s house in St. James and spent some time speaking with him. According to Drache, Laak downplayed the role he had played in the Jägala camp in Estonia, describing his duties as akin to being “the warden of Stony Mountain”, in Drache’s words.
As Telpner noted in his story, Drache went on to write about Laak, but without revealing his true name. Drache said to me that he found the notion that a Mossad agent tracking Laak down and forcing him to commit suicide highly implausible.
But, I suggested to him, the same information that had been given to the Free Press, presumably by Russian authorities, might also have been given to the Israelis.
Drache did concede that point. He went on to say that immediately after he wrote his story about Laak, which was in late August, 1960, he recalled, he drove to Boston to resume his studies at Brandeis. On the way he happened to pick up a copy of the New York Times, which published a major story about the suicide of Alexander Laak but, as was the case with the Free Press story about the suicide, the NY Times story did not reveal his true name.
Drache also mentioned his personal connection to Alexander Laak – through Laak’s son. As Gene Telpner had written, they had both attended Gordon Bell High School, were classmates in fact and even played on the high school football team together. It was the fact that he knew Laak’s son that led his assignment editor at the Free Press to ask Drache to go to Laak’s house to interview him.
When the book “Forged in Fury” was published in 1970, Drache says he was shocked at the allegations made in that book about Laak.
Drache told me, “We wrote a couple of stories which received page one play, but did not give his (Laak’s) name because of libel laws.”
But when Drache read “Forged in Fury”, he was made aware of the full details surrounding Alexander Laak’s alleged background as a Nazi war criminal for the first time. He wrote to the Free Press to tell them about the book’s revelations, but says he never got a response from the newspaper.
Laak was never publicly identified in Winnipeg while he was alive. It is believed that there had been accusations from some sources, but he protested his innocence.
Arthur Drache explained, “Only his ‘suicide’ allowed fuller disclosures and until I read ‘Forged in Fury’ I was quite at a loss to explain his actions.”
One final footnote to this story: In attempting to find out more about Alexander Laak, I came across this information on a white supremacist website:
Alexander Laak , former commandant of the Jägala camp in Estonia where a large number of Jews were supposedly massacred, is alleged to have committed suicide by hanging in his garage in Winnipeg , Canada. A number of Laak’s subordinates had at the time been given harsh sentences at a Soviet show trial. According to an article in Der Tagespiegel September 8, 1960, Laak had declared the Soviet allegations against him to be “99% lies and Communist propaganda.” In Michael Elkin’s book Forged in Fury (1971) it is claimed that a Jewish “avenger” named Arnie Berg travelled to Winnipeg to kill Laak, and that Laak hanged himself under Berg’s supervision in order to not have his wife shot by Berg.
This entire story was brought to mind again when I started to watch a ridiculous TV show called “Hunters” which, although it has a stellar cast, is really nothing more than a comic book fantasy about Jewish avengers pursuing Nazis in America. Still, the story surrounding Alexander Laak’s suicide could make an interesting movie. Maybe Jonas Chernick would be interested?
Features
Exchange Rate Factors: What Global Events Mean for Savvy Investors
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, it created ripples in all financial markets, including currency markets. The Euro weakened while the dollar surged and emerging market currencies wobbled. Global factors can quickly affect financial markets and shake established trends. Apart from such rare events, currencies tend to change their price because of interest rates, inflation, and overall investor confidence. For investors managing money abroad, understanding these movements is critical to avoid losses and mitigate risks.
Below, we will break down how global political, economic, and cultural events influence exchange rates, with insights for savvy investors.
Economic factors
There are several key exchange rate factors with a consistent history of shaking financial markets. These factors include inflation, interest rates, trade balances, employment rates, and so on. Since economic factors are shaping markets almost daily, we start with those.
Inflation and interest rates
Inflation and interest rates are closely connected as one can easily affect the other. When inflation rises, central banks step in and raise interest rates to reduce inflation, and when inflation is lower, central banks can lower interest rates to make borrowing money cheaper. As a result, investors closely monitor these two metrics to anticipate changes in interest rates. Higher inflation makes currencies weaker, and whenever banks change the rates, the changes are immediately reflected in global currency rates. In the United States, the Federal Reserve is the central bank that sets interest rates in the country.
Trade balances and economic growth
A country that exports more than it imports has a stronger demand for its currency. More demand equals a stronger currency. However, the Japanese yen was always weaker against the dollar because the BOJ of Japan tends to have super low rates near 0 to support its exporters. Economic growth also increases demand for local currency as more investors try to invest in the country’s economy. Long-term investors often track this data to detect early signs of any changes in currency strength.
Political and geopolitical factors
Elections, sanctions, and overall political stability are also crucial factors. If the country gets under sanctions, its economy crumbles and its currency becomes inflationary, losing its value quickly. Elections are also crucial for a currency’s strength. Geopolitical events can have a serious impact on the currency as well. The most obvious example is the 2016 Brexit events that made GBP lose its value rapidly and violently. Global conflicts, such as wars, can seriously impact global financial assets, especially currency markets. When tensions are high, safe-haven currencies like USD and CHF (Swiss Franc) become very popular among investors as they seek a safe place to protect their capital.
Cultural and social factors
People like tourists, workers, and diaspora communities can shape currencies as well. Tourism usually drives seasonal demand, and countries that are popular destinations during certain seasons experience their currency appreciation as demand spikes. The perception matters as countries seen as safe and opportunity-rich tend to attract more investors, solidifying their currency strength.
Technology and innovation
Technology is seriously affecting everything, especially the financial sector. Digital payment systems, blockchain technology, and fintech startups have made it easy and swift to move money around. Cryptos and stablecoins enable investors to protect their capital using stablecoins during volatile times. The latest trend among banks is to work on CBDCs, which signals a new era where national currencies are blended with technology and blockchain. Despite this, currencies, even in their crypto form, will continue to be influenced by all major factors mentioned above, and knowing how these factors impact your currency is key to keeping your capital safe from risks.
Practical lessons for savvy investors
So, what do all these factors teach us about global currency rates and investing strategies? The key lies in proper preparations and anticipation. Monitoring macro trends, policy announcements, and major geopolitical and political developments is critical.
Diversify
The number one method which is used by professional investors is diversification. This simply means to spread your risks across a basket of assets. By not investing all your capital in one instrument, you can mitigate risks. If one asset experiences a loss, other ones will counter it with returns. Building a diversified portfolio is key to properly diversifying. For example: divide your capital to buy stocks, commodities, currencies, and cryptos so that if one fails to perform, others will counter it. This ensures a stable income without unnecessary losses in the long run.
Hedge
Forex options and ETFs are great hedging assets. Forex options let investors lock in an exchange rate for a future date, which is very useful if you expect volatility but want stability. Currency ETFs, on the other hand, track specific currencies or a basket of currencies and allow easy trading or protection without trading forex directly, but they are still risky.
Monitor the economic calendar
Economic calendar is a free online tool that aggregates important macroeconomic news data such as interest rate decisions, CPI, inflation, employment rates, central bank announcements and speeches, and other crucial information. By monitoring them, investors can always know when important news data will be released, and they can postpone their investment decisions to avoid volatile times and only invest after the main trend is determined.
Features
The Canadian Dollar is on a slow decline. Should you save in euros or US dollars instead?
The Canadian dollar has been losing its value against the dollar this year. For Canadians, this raises a simple question: if your CAD is losing ground, is it better to move savings into euros or U.S. dollars, especially bonds, stocks, or a carry-trade strategy? Carry-trade strategy in this context means to borrow in CAD and invest it in the USA or the EU zone. This is a complex matter, and to understand where the CAD is, how attractive other currencies might be, we need to analyze these currencies more deeply. Below, we will walk you through the data, practical costs, and risks so you can reach a usable conclusion after reading this guide.
Quick snapshot – What the markets say right now
Recently, the Canadian dollar has hit multi-month lows due to weaker oil prices and a post-Fed (U.S. Federal Reserve) market reaction (which raised the rates, making the CAD weaker against the dollar). Canada’s central bank has cut its policy rate to 2.25%, while the Fed’s fund rate remains notably higher at about 3.75-4%. The ECB (European Central Bank) main interest rates are lower than the Fed’s and near the low-to-mid 2% range. While the Euro currency to USD rates remain mostly predictable, due to higher US bond yield rates, the EUR remains stronger, still. The U.S. 10-year Treasuries are around 4.1%, Canada’s 10-year near 3.2%, and Germany’s 10-year around 2.7%, meaning that today the USD-denominated bonds have the highest nominal yield among the three. As a result, the dollar seems much more attractive when it comes to bond yields and stocks.
Bonds – Which currency is the best for fixed income?
The short answer is: USD bonds. When it comes to nominal yield alone, US bonds beat almost all other competitors. U.S. government bond yields (10-year) are noticeably higher than Canadian and German/Eurozone bond yields right now. As a result, US bond buyers have more income potential than Canada and the EU. Euro-area core yields are lower, meaning they are paying less than the USA.
However, nominal yield does not mean it is guaranteed real return, and metrics like inflation, currency rates, and hedging costs can impact potential returns directly. If you buy USD bonds but the dollar falls against the CAD, currency losses will most likely wipe out the higher yield rate. If the Fed lowers its rates, it will make the dollar weaker against the CAD and EUR.
Another challenge is that, if you live and spend in Canada, you are using CAD, and when exchanging it for dollars, you get exposed to foreign currency rate risks, which must not be underestimated.
Stocks – Euro or dollar?
Both the EUR and USD have their advantages. USD has strong liquidity and strong long-term performance, while EUR equities offer valuation opportunities and recent relative strength.
Why USD?
The U.S. market remains the most liquid stock market with strong earnings for many tech and large companies. This makes USD stocks very attractive for long-term-oriented investors. S&P has been rising historically, and even after crashes, it often recovers its value relatively quickly.
Why EUR?
European indexes have performed well this year and in many cases cost less than their U.S. counterparts. While cheaper does not always mean better, these indexes still have some growth potential. Some major banks in the EU zone, together with industries, have recovered strongly with a recent focus on military manufacturing, making many EU stocks very attractive, together with local indexes.
However, here is a caveat: if you are using CAD daily and it loses its value against the euro, the returns from euro holdings might shrink, exposing you to greater currency risks.
Carry-trade analysis – Is it viable to borrow CAD and invest it in USD or EUR?
The basic promise of carry-trade is simple yet powerful: you borrow cheaper currency and invest it in currencies with higher yields. In our case, is it lucrative to borrow in CAD and invest in either EUR or USD? To answer this question, we need to look at numbers. BoC policy rate is 2.25%, Fed funds from 3.75%, U.S 10-yr is 4.1%, Canada 10-yr is 3.2%. If we deduct Canadian rates from the U.S. rates, we get around 1.8% positive before costs. So, in theory, it could be lucrative to invest CAD in USD assets using a carry trade. Since the ECB has around 2%, it is not profitable to use a carry-trade strategy for the euro.
The bottom line
While the CAD has been weakening lately, it is still not cheap enough to naively invest in USD or EUR. However, if you want a pure yield and can tolerate foreign exchange rate risks, USD bonds are more attractive today. When it comes to stocks, USD equities provide stable and liquid markets. If you want valuation potential and diversification, then euro equities have become more attractive this year. When it comes to carry-trade strategies, the USD remains more lucrative than the euro, but on paper, traders and investors should evaluate all the risks and costs before investing in any currency.
In the end, Canadians who have CAD for their daily costs should be careful when trying to get exposure to other markets. US bonds, US stocks, US carry-trade, and EU stocks remain attractive choices for experienced investors.
Features
Why Reading Online Reviews Matters Before Making a Purchase
People usually pause before purchasing to read reviews from other customers. It’s become part of everyday online life, a quick way to see how something really performs before making a decision. According to the Pew Research Center, most internet users read reviews to get a better idea of what they’re buying. The feedback from actual users becomes more reliable than marketing statements because it comes from everyday consumers instead of sales-oriented corporate messages.
Reading reviews also helps spot patterns. If the same comment, good or bad, appears again and again, it usually means there’s truth to it. People now use this collective feedback as their main method to evaluate online products and services for quality and reliability.
When There Are Too Many Options, Reviews Narrow the Field
Shopping online can be overwhelming and a bit of an adventure. There are always more options than anyone needs, hundreds of gadgets, countless household tools, endless entertainment subscriptions. All listings present themselves as excellent value propositions with operational excellence, yet it remains a bit of a challenge when it comes to verifying which ones deliver actual results.
Reviews become useful at this point. Real users provide information about product details, which marketing content fails to show, by sharing their experiences about delivery speed and setup ease and product durability after several months of use. The product details show its operational behavior when used in regular business activities.
Users tend to begin with reviews. For instance, a tech product might have amazing packaging but fall short on battery life or integration. Maybe a new game or casino platform might sound promising, and reviews on trusted choices can confirm whether it includes flexible payment options, a wide content library, and responsive support. When feedback keeps mentioning strong points like clear instructions or helpful customer service, it shows consistency. The product or service delivers its expected results because customers have personally seen its performance.
Reviews Build Faith Through Shared Experience
Reviews gain their strength from the emotional bonds which readers find with each other. Reading about someone else’s experience feels familiar, even if you don’t know them. It’s basic word-of-mouth marketing, like receiving recommendations from a neighbor who has already purchased the item you are considering.
This shared experience has built an informal community of online voices. People rely less on what a brand claims and more on what other users notice. When different reviewers mention similar strengths or small frustrations, it adds authenticity. The story becomes more believable.
Reviews show what other users have experienced, but they do not offer any guidance about what to do. This type of his collective info turns into an important part of how people build trust online. It’s a small thing, but it makes a big difference in how confident we feel about the choices we make.
Balanced Feedback Feels More Honest
A perfect score does not prove that something lacks any imperfections. A combination of positive and less-than-perfect feedback creates a more authentic impression. Small complaints about packaging or delivery delays make glowing reviews sound real. A recent study showed that participants answered honestly instead of trying to make their responses attractive to others.
Most readers know that nothing works flawlessly all the time. People look for reviews which provide both positive and negative aspects because they want to find balanced opinions. Customers can establish realistic purchase expectations through combined information which they can apply before buying. Review systems maintain their value because reviewers maintain honesty in their assessments.
Why Recency and Volume Matter
The best reviews and product ratings are the ones written recently. They reflect how a product or service performs right now, not how it worked a year ago. Things change, materials, delivery services, and even the way companies handle support.
A steady flow of new reviews suggests consistency. When lots of people share their experiences over time, patterns appear. Those patterns tell readers what’s typical, not just what’s possible. It’s the difference between one person’s lucky experience and a reliable average that others can count on.
Quantity matters too. Ten balanced reviews from this month will usually tell more than a single five-star comment from last summer. Together, recency and volume create a clear picture of reliability and quality without relying on assumptions.
Recognising Genuine Reviews
Not every review online is authentic, real, and written by a consumer. Some are written by automated accounts or people hired to post positive comments. Real feedback tends to sound natural and personal. It might mention something specific like the texture of a fabric, how easy the setup was, or whether support staff replied quickly.
Authentic reviews vary in tone and detail. Some are short, others long, some are full of small observations. That mix of styles feels human. On the other hand, copied or fake reviews usually repeat the same phrases or sound overly polished.
Many websites now try to identify and label suspicious posts, but readers can also help by paying attention to repetition, timing, and tone. A quick scan across different platforms usually reveals what’s genuine and what’s not.
Reading Smarter in the Online Marketplace
Reviews have become a solid foundation for how people make decisions online. They give an honest view of how something performs beyond what’s written on the label. Every comment, short or long, adds another piece to the puzzle.
More than that, reviews show how businesses handle problems, how quickly they respond, and whether they follow through on promises. They offer accountability in a world where shoppers and sellers rarely meet face to face.
Reading a handful of reviews won’t guarantee a perfect experience, but it provides helpful context. It shows what’s typical and helps people make choices with more confidence. In an online world full of noise, reviews remain one of the easiest and most reliable ways to learn from others.