To: American Spirit who wrote (22699 ) 5/16/2004 8:18:35 AM From: tonto Read Replies (1) | Respond to There seems to be a lot of misinformation spreading on the Internet as to how and why the Presidential candidate John Kerry inherited his surname. Some of the information even suggests that he himself changed his name to Kerry so as to be associated with Irish Catholics in Massachusetts, specifically to the Kennedy clan. However, a report which appeared in the Boston Globe in the beginning of the month accurately reveals Kerry's background. He was the grandson of Czech immigrants who changed their surname in order to conceal their Jewish heritage. Kerry's family tree can be traced back to 1873 when his Jewish grandfather named Fritz Kohn was born in a rural area to Benedikt and Mathilde Kohn. Fritz eventually followed in the footsteps of his father, a brewer, practicing the trade in an area dominated by German-speaking Catholics. It was not unusual for Jews to hide their religious backgrounds or their mother tongue, Hebrew, in order to be successful businessmen. In 1902 when he was approaching his thirtieth birthday, Fritz went to a government office in Vienna and changed his first name "Fritz" to "Frederick" and last name "Kohn" to "Kerry." So, when he and his wife Ida and son Erich left Austria in 1905 and set sail to America, they were listed on the ship's manifesto as the Kerrys. After settling in Chicago, the Kerrys moved to the Boston area where Ida gave birth to the future father of John Kerry. Richard Kerry eventually married Rosemary Forbes, a descendant of two wealthy and established Massachusetts families, the Forbes and the Winthrops. The senator, John Forbes Kerry was Richard and Rosemary's first son born in 1943. He had an upbringing commensurate with wealth--attending exclusive European boarding schools as well as private school in New Hampshire. encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com
