(JTA) — A 100-year-old Holocaust survivor has officially become a U.S. citizen in order to vote in the November presidential election.
Menia Perelman of South Florida, who arrived in the United States at 84, told the local media that she wanted to become a citizen so she could vote in the contest.
She took the oath of citizenship in Florida on Friday with more than 100 other new U.S. citizens.
“I am Jewish, my name is Perelman and I went through many difficult times for so many years,” Perelman said after the ceremony.
Perelman was born in Romania and survived the Holocaust, including four years in a concentration camp. After World War II she was not able to enter the United States due to restrictions on the number of refugees, and instead moved to Panama, then Peru and later Venezuela. Following the death of her husband, Perelman came to the United States in 1993 to be closer to her daughter.
At the swearing-in, Perelman was joined by four generations of her family: her two daughters and their husbands, her granddaughter and her husband, and her 6-month-old great-granddaughter.
Asked by the CBS local affiliate whom she would be voting for, Perelman replied that she preferred the Democratic nominee.
“You know, it’s a personal secret, but I will tell you,” she said. “Hillary. Hillary Clinton.”
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