I read that his paternal grandfather -- ethnically Jewish but not a practicing religious Jew -- came to America (Boston?) and at that time changed his name from a difficult-to-pronounce Eastern Europan name to the ostensibly Irish "Kerry," and at the same time became a Catholic. I presume he became part of the Irish Catholic community, probably marrying into it.

Kerry may well have known about this, but (according to a news item several months ago) did NOT know until recently that he had relatives who died in the Holocaust.

Artbrooks is right -- having Jewish forbearers on the paternal side does *not* make a person Jewish according to Jewish laws and traditions; only the mother can pass along "Jewishness." The Nazis, on the other hand, would exterminate anyone with Jewish blood on either side of the family tree.