Son of Jewish Refugee Elected Prime Minister of New Zealand
By Nonna Gorilovskaya
John Key, son of a Jewish refugee, was elected the next prime minister of Middle-earth New Zealand, the country best known for its kiwi fruit and as the gorgeous backdrop for the Lord of the Rings movies.
Ruth Lazar, Key's mother, escaped Austria in 1939 with her family to Britain by paying for a paper marriage. After the war, she married George Key, and the couple immigrated to New Zealand. John's father died of a heart attack when he was six. Ruth raised John and his two sisters by herself in public housing.
Key started out as a currency trader in his 20s and rose to become head of foreign exchange for Merrill Lynch and a multimillionaire. The center-right National Party recruited him to run as an MP in 2002, and his political career...