Newly elected Republican Congressman George Santos allegedly lied about the origin of his grandparents.
Santos stated his grandparents survived the Holocaust, while different genealogists claimed that Santos has no connection with any Holocaust survivor.
Deceit and Mistruths
Congressman-elect George Santos is self-proclaimed “half Jewish” and often calls himself a “Latino Jew.”
According to Santos, his grandfather was Ukrainian, but fled to Brazil to escape the Holocaust. Similarly, Santos claimed his grandparents embraced Catholicism when Nazism was being spread in Belgium.
In another media appearance, Santos stated his grandparents changed their names to survive the rising Nazism during the Holocaust.
Speaking with the Jewish News Syndicate, Santos claimed he is extremely proud of his Jewish heritage. In addition to that, Santos noted the story of his grandparents depicts resilience, as they escaped all the brutalities of Nazism to avoid death.
Likewise, in a May interview, Santos claimed his parents are Holocaust survivors. However, all claims of Santos seem fake, as suggested by multiple genealogists.
BREAKING: Long Island Republican Congressman-elect George Santos LIED about having Jewish grandparents who fled the Holocaust, adding to the mounting questions about his bogus resumé.
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) December 21, 2022
Genealogists who studied Santos’ family trees found his mother’s family used the surname “Devolder,” without changing it.
Even the Facebook profile of Santos’ late mother does not show any sign she was ever Jewish. In fact, the profile has some posts about Catholic prayers without any mention of Judaism.
Genealogists Refuted Santos’ Claims
CNN also interviewed various genealogists, who dismissed Santos’ assertions.
One professional genealogist, Megan Smolenyak, who also researched Santos’ family tree, claimed nobody in Santos’ family changed their name or even belonged to Ukraine.
“..it appears Santos is not Jewish — and lied about his family fleeing persecution during the war. Neither of his maternal grandparents appear in Brazilian immigration cards in the 1930s or 1940s, or in the databases of Yad Vashem…” https://t.co/0vXSGcepXB
— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) December 21, 2022
Santos’ controversial biography made headlines recently when the New York Times found severe discrepancies in his resume. Reportedly, Santos also lied about his employment history and college education in his profile to make himself more attractive to voters.
Apart from that, the International Center on Nazi Persecution and the Holocaust Museum has no record of Santos’ grandparents.
Different family history websites also showed Santos was lying about the origin of his grandparents.
Some websites, including Geneanet and MyHeritage, found Santos’ grandparents were born and raised in Brazil. Furthermore, family records at FamilySearch also suggested Santos’ parents lived in Brazil without facing any Holocaust.
Meanwhile, internet archives show Santos changed his profile just to be in the good books of voters in the midterm elections. Santos changed his biography between April and October this year when he was trying hard to lure voters toward his campaign.
The current biography of Santos mentions his grandparents first fled persecution in Ukraine and then fled Belgium during World War 2.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Santos told Fox News he had a vague relationship with Ukraine. Santos further noted none of his relatives were at risk in Ukraine. Later on, Santos claimed his family changed his surname to avoid persecution in Ukraine.
