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He spoke of "the rent-controlled three-and-a-half-room apartment" that his parents and brother shared at Flatbush, not far from here in Brooklyn.
He recalled his mother, who died soon after starting university, and his dream – not realized – of settling in "our own home".
But then, in the midst of the most personal remarks of his political career at the first big rally of his 2020 campaign, Sanders deviated from the dark scenario.
"I know where I'm from!" he shouted, a hint of exuberance in his voice. "And that's something I will never forget."
The crowd of about 13,000 spectators, according to estimates of an election campaign, many of them having spent the previous hours stamping their feet in a group of musicians after queuing around East Quad Brooklyn College early Saturday morning, has resumed more.
Sanders is already hitting another deal as he is looking for a second time Democratic candidacy. He has a new campaign manager, a more diverse staff and a small circle of advisors – some familiar, some new – who, in their early days, have already accomplished a small feat: they have convinced the 77-year-old Sanders, who is looking for a higher position again, must be willing to step out of his comfort zone and tell Americans who he is, where he comes from – and why it is important.
This personal story took center stage on Saturday before Sanders first appeared. Sanders' wife, Jane, spoke first, and her close ally, Shaun King, activist and journalist, gave the names of her uncles, an aunt and daughter who were killed in the Holocaust "while Bernie was a little boy "during his death. introduction.
"Because we have never heard of these stories (of Sanders's youth), for most of us in our minds, Bernie has always been a politician with nauseated glasses and gray hair." said King. "For most of us, Bernie starts by thinking of who he is right now, today."
Sanders took steps to offer a broader picture of his life, describing what was driving him from this small apartment in a Jewish neighborhood haunted by the shadows of those who were killed in the Holocaust, still brushing the boundaries of the financial difficulties, and now shaping the figure by proposing a "political revolution" to a progressive people who sowed 10 million dollars in his new campaign during his first week.
"My childhood experience within a struggling family has profoundly influenced my life and my values," Sanders said Saturday. "I know where I come from and it's something I'll never forget. Unlike Donald Trump, who closed the government and left 800,000 federal employees with no income to pay the bills, I know what it's like to live in a family that lives on a paycheque. "
Sanders is more likely to talk about Trump by name than some of the other leading Democratic candidates. He regularly describes the president as a "racist and xenophobe" and, once again in Brooklyn, he warned not to allow "Trump and his friends to divide us".
"I had learned a lot about immigration as a child because my father was from Poland at the age of 17, without a penny in his pocket, without knowing a single word of English," Sanders said. . "He came to the United States to escape the misery that reigned in his community and to fight against widespread anti-Semitism." And it was a good thing that he came to this country because practically all his family (in Europe) was exterminated by Hitler and Nazi barbarism ".
Sometimes the contrasts with Trump were more direct. Sanders joked that, unlike the president, son of a wealthy real estate developer located in neighboring Queens, he was paying off with a more modest stipend – "25 cents a week".
"I did not come from a privileged family that prepared me to entertain people on TV by telling workers:" You're fired, "said Sanders, turning Trump's slogan of" The Apprentice "in a real class kid." I come from a family that knew too well the scary power that employers can have on ordinary workers. "
Linking his lived experiences to his politics and grouping them together as the best antidote to trumpism is a break with the typical Sanders message, but a clear and perhaps obvious strategic pivot. On Sunday, after a stop in Selma, Alabama, Sanders returns to Chicago for a speech that should address his political awakening.
Yet the message here – and the biggest applause – was familiar. Sanders raised against powerful business interests, from the fossil fuel industry to private retailers who fought the unionization efforts of their workers and had to be forced to offer employees a "living wage" .
He warned the private health insurance industry that his days were numbered.
"Whether you like it or not, the United States will join all the other major countries on the planet and guarantee everyone the right to receive health care," he said. "All Americans have the right to consult a doctor when they are sick and not go bankrupt after being hospitalized … We will adopt a Medicare program for all single payer programs."
But these notes did not write the song Saturday. A day earlier, Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner told CNN that after 2016, the Vermont senator had a new job to do and that it was up to him to take action .
"This time, people really understand his mission," said Turner, "but they do not know why, and telling him his story will give them the why."
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