89-year-old Ukrainian Holocaust survivor dies in New York: her roommate suspected of murder
19 September 23:55
on September 14, 89-year-old Nina Kravtsova was found unconscious in bed at the Seagate Nursing Home in Brooklyn, New York, covered in blood and with numerous cuts. The next morning she died in the hospital from blunt force trauma to the head. This was reported by ABC News, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the criminal complaint, the woman had numerous fractures of the face and skull. Prosecutors assume that the murder weapon was a wheelchair pedal, which was found bloody on the floor.
The suspect
Galina Smirnova, 95, Kravtsova’s roommate, is accused in the case. According to the prosecutor, she was found in the bathroom washing blood off her hands.
Smirnova was charged with murder and illegal possession of weapons. She pleaded not guilty, but the court ruled to keep her in custody without bail.
The life of Nina Kravtsova
The family of the deceased emphasizes that Kravtsova was born in Ukraine and survived the Holocaust. According to her daughter Lucy Flom, she lost her family during the war when her mother was only 5 years old.
As an adult, Kravtsova worked as a nurse in Ukraine and later emigrated to the United States. The family emphasizes that the woman’s death was particularly tragic given her life story and experience of survival during World War II.
Quotes and reactions
Family lawyer Randy Zelin said:
“It is my duty to see that justice is done for a woman who survived the Holocaust but was unable to survive in a nursing home.”
The Brooklyn District Attorney said that Smirnova was admitted to Seagate only two days before the tragedy, in the same room as Kravtsova.
According to the New York Post, the case has attracted attention not only because of the brutality of the crime, but also because of the victim, a Ukrainian woman who survived the Holocaust but died in peacetime in the United States.
