“They Thought We Were No Longer Human” Kushner’s Immigrant Grandparents Survived on Benefits Trump Seeks to Dismantle
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters file
Jared Kushner’s immigrant grandparents, who survived the Holocaust, relied on a range of benefits that former President Donald Trump, Kushner’s father-in-law, has weakened and threatens to dismantle, according to a new report by the Washington Post.
Kushner’s grandparents, Rae and Joseph Berkowitz fled Europe after World War II and were financially supported by programs that Trump frequently criticizes. “Seven decades later, their grandson became a top official in an administration that sharply restricted immigration and cut the number of refugees the country admits to its lowest level ever,” wrote Andrew Silverstein.
“Trump, in his current presidential campaign, has pledged to suspend the refugee program, ban refugees from Gaza, and turn back asylum seekers,” Silverstein added.
In 1949, Joseph and Rae arrived in New York City from an Italian displaced person camp with just $2 and no family to support them. They were sent to Capitol Hall, a Manhattan shelter run by a coalition of aid groups that housed many of the 140,000 Holocaust refugees admitted to the U.S. between 1946 and 1953.
“Echoing New York City’s current policy for arriving asylum-seeking families, the Kushners were given a room for 60 days, a food allowance, laundry service, and help with clothing, medicine, and other incidentals,” reported the Post.
Despite this support, the Kushners faced anti-immigrant sentiments similar to those echoed by Trump decades later. “They were also afraid of taking us in,” Rae Kushner said in a 1972 Yiddish-language testimony for Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial and museum. “They thought we were no longer human, that we were animals.”
Trump reportedly echoed similar sentiments at a recent rally in the South Bronx, saying, “They want to get us from within… I think they’re building an army.” The Kushners were provided with caseworkers and services, including a nursery, medical facilities, a kosher kitchen, and free clothing. Jared Kushner, however, has downplayed the financial assistance his grandparents received, claiming his grandfather started working immediately.
“Two days after arriving, my grandfather showed up early at a construction site in Brooklyn, willing to work hard,” Jared reportedly wrote. However, Silverstein notes, “The case file shows that two weeks after their arrival, Joseph was unemployed.” Despite this discrepancy, Silverstein reports that four years after their arrival, the Kushners began building a real estate empire in New Jersey.
By 1985, the Kushners’ real estate holdings included more than 4,000 properties. This background is likely why Jared’s uncle, Murray Kushner, recoils at the “Trumpian casting of aspersions of immigrants and refugees as murderers and killers,” according to the Post. “They’re looking for an opportunity to raise children and to be successful,” Murray Kushner reportedly said. “They’re all grasping at something. They just need an opportunity.”
