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Article: What, me Jewish? (the antisemitism of a Catholic who had Jewish roots)(The Last Word)(Column)
- Article from:
- Commonweal
- Article date:
- April 25, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Commonweal Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Madeleine Albright's discovery of her Jewish roots brought back how I discovered my own Jewish roots, which I should have realized earlier but did not.
My father, a devout Episcopalian, married my mother, an Irish Catholic, just before the Depression. Since he was over fifty when he married, he was not the typical parent - no sports or movies. We did go on walks and he lectured me on things I only half heard, which came back after his death to close the circle. He died when I was fourteen, and I realize now that I never knew him well.
When he was alive, I remember summer visitors from Europe cousins "with funny accents" - who would stay at a hotel and come for ...