Rep. Anna Paulina Luna claimed to be Jewish despite grandfather's service in Nazi army, report

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) claimed to have Jewish ancestry and been raised as a Messianic Jew, but her heritage is being questioned after a report found her grandfather was a member of the Nazi military.

Days before her election in November 2022, Luna told Jewish Insider that she identifies as a Christian.

"I was raised as a Messianic Jew by my father," she said. "I am also a small fraction Ashkenazi," Luna also said, referring to Central or Eastern European Jews.

Messianic Jews consider themselves to be Jewish Christians. 

Several of Luna's family members said her paternal grandfather, Heinrich Mayerhofer, was a member of the Wehrmacht, or Nazi armed forces, The Washington Post reported Friday. Luna's uncle Edward Mayerhofer provided the newspaper with a photo he said was of Heinrich Mayerhofer dressed in a Nazi uniform. The Simon Wiesenthal Center also reviewed the photo and said the uniform matched that of the Wehrmacht. 

Luna's cousin, Nicole Mayerhofer, said her grandfather "was not antisemitic" but would speak about his time during the war. She and other family members said Heinrich Mayerhofer's history was well known.

Luna's mother, Monica Luna, said she had not heard about Heinrich Mayerhofer's ties to the Nazi army. 

The Republican congresswoman had used the surname Mayerhofer until she got married and changed it to Gamberzky. She changed her surname to Luna in 2019.

Her mother also said that Luna's father, George Mayerhofer, was a "Christian that embraced the Messianic faith" after he defeated his drug addiction.

"He eventually got clean and started attending a messianic Jewish church in Orange County. He brought Anna to services and she buried him to Jewish customs," she said. 

Monica Luna also disputed other claims from Luna's cousin and said she had "barely spent any time with them in her entire life."

It is not unheard of for Jews to have secretly served in the Wehrmacht, but records reviewed by the Post show that Heinrich Mayerhofer identified as Roman Catholic when he immigrated from Germany to Canada in 1954.

Luna's communications director, Edie Heipel, told The Post on Friday that the paper's questions were "bizarre" and the office "will not be responding to you any further."