Joseph Kushner

Joseph Kushner ( Berkowitz;[1] 10 October 1922[2] – 5 October 1985) was a Polish-born American real estate investor and developer. At the end of his career, he owned over 4,000 apartments, houses, and properties.

Joseph Kushner
Born
Joseph Berkowitz

(1922-10-10)10 October 1922
Nowogródek, Poland (now Navahrudak, Belarus)
Died5 October 1985(1985-10-05) (aged 62)
CitizenshipPolish
American (naturalized)
OccupationReal estate magnate
Spouse
Reichel "Rae" Kushner
(m. 1945)
ChildrenMurray Kushner
Charles Kushner
Esther Schulder
RelativesJared Kushner (grandson)
Joshua Kushner (grandson)
Marc Kushner (grandson)

Biography

Kushner was born Joseph Berkowitz on 10 October 1922 in Navahrudak (Polish: Nowogródek), in what was then eastern Poland. His parents were Chana and Moshe Berkowitz.[2] In August 1945, he married Reichel "Rae" Kushner (27 February 1923 – 2004) in Budapest.[1][3] Rae Kushner was also from the city of Navahrudak, and is remembered for accompanying her brother and up to 360 others to escape through a tunnel from the Navahrudak Ghetto during the Holocaust. Joseph took his wife’s last name upon marriage.[1] Charles Kushner was the chief benefactor of the Museum of Jewish Resistance.[1] In the aftermath of the war, Navahrudak was transferred from Poland to the Byelorussian SSR of the Soviet Union under territorial changes dictated by the Potsdam Agreement.[4] Rae Kushner and her spouse immigrated to the United States as Sh'erit ha-Pletah from the Soviet Union in 1949.[1]

Kushner worked as a carpenter in New Jersey eventually running his own business which was funded by the G.I. Bill and later by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.[5]

The Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy and the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, both in Livingston, New Jersey, are named in their honour.[6]

Family

Kushner was the father of Esther Schulder, Murray Kushner and Charles Kushner, and the grandfather of Jared Kushner, Joshua Kushner, and Marc Kushner.

See also

References

  1. Cnaan Liphshiz (June 6, 2017). "Jared Kushner's family is a legend in this Belarus town". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  2. "Joseph, Yossel Kushner". geni.com. 23 May 2018. Joseph, Yossel Kushner (Berkowitz) Also Known As: "Josef Kuszner" Birthdate: October 10, 1922 (62) Birthplace: Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland Death: October 05, 1985 (62) NJ, United States Place of Burial: Elizabeth, Union, NJ, United States Immediate Family: Son of Moshe Berkowitz and Chana Berkowitz
  3. "Rae Kushner: biography". JewishPartisans.org. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  4. Quint, Peter E. (1997). The Imperfect Union. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 257. ISBN 9780691086569.
  5. "Who is Jared Kushner?". The New Yorker . January 6, 2020.
  6. "Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy/Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School". Jkha.org. 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2017-04-18.


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