Homeless NYC Holocaust survivor leaves $100,000 gift

[Libertas1776]

Source: Newsday

JERUSALEM (AP) —Hebrew University has received a surprise donation of more than $100,000 from an unexpected benefactor — a woman who survived the Nazi Holocaust and appeared to be destitute, a university official said Sunday.

"She lived as a very poor woman. And when she died at the age of 92, it was discovered she had accumulated close to $300,000," Ozery said.
The university first learned about the gift three months ago but did not receive the money until this week. It will be used to fund scholarships for medical research students, according to the woman's wishes, Ozery said, refusing to disclose her name. The story was first reported by The Jerusalem Post daily.

"No one knows where she got it from. But she probably lived penny to penny. She probably saved it to do good for the world and for the Jewish people," Ozery said.
The woman's last known employer was a Jewish man in New York, who hired her to move his car to avoid parking tickets in exchange for a hot meal and a room, Ozery said. The woman also left that employer a portion of her savings.

Read more: http://www.newsday.com/homeless-nyc-holocaust-survivor-leaves-100-000-gift-1.1358402

---

What a remarkable story, something that seems right out of the silver screen or a novel, but apparently is all too real. A real mystery, but with a happy ending, I guess.

[WriteDown]

1. Geez.....

Not sure I could be homeless sitting on 300K. Sounds like an amazing woman.

[aquart]

2. She was a survivor.

She had learned to survive on almost nothing. And it looks like she had no family left, if any had survived with her.

[UpInArms]

3. here's another one of those stories: Homeless Man Leaves Behind Surprise: $4 Million

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111091624

Every day on NPR, listeners hear funding credits — or, in other words, very short, simple commercials.

A few weeks ago, a new one made it to air: "Support for NPR comes from the estate of Richard Leroy Walters, whose life was enriched by NPR, and whose bequest seeks to encourage others to discover public radio."

NPR's Robert Siegel wondered who Walters was. So Siegel Googled him.

An article in the online newsletter of a Catholic mission in Phoenix revealed that Walters died two years ago at the age of 76. He left an estate worth about $4 million. Along with the money he left for NPR, Walters also left money for the mission.

But something distinguished Walters from any number of solvent, well-to-do Americans with seven-figure estates: He was homeless.

Walters was a retired engineer from AlliedSignal Corp.; an honors graduate of Purdue with a master's degree; and a Marine. Walters never married, didn't have children and was estranged from his brother. But he wasn't friendless.

Rita Belle, a registered nurse, met Walters at a senior center 13 years ago.

"He always came in with a little backpack on and a cap on," Belle tells Siegel. "And always kind of looked at me, but very reserved. And I'm very outgoing and outspoken. So I said to him, 'Hey, you got a minute can we sit down to visit?' And we'd have coffee there at the senior center."

Belle and Walters became friends. Belle stayed with Walters when he was ill. She became his nurse and ultimately the executor of his estate — as well as one of the beneficiaries — despite fundamental differences between them.

...more...

[bluesmail]

4. My heart feels warm. eom

[create.peace]

5. the two stories on this thread kind of leave me feeling weird

i have lived voluntarily at poverty level, i mean i am educated enough and would have had family connections to do 'quite well' as my mother would have said. when she passed away i felt freer to live even closer to the edge financially, so i could have more free time. luckily i met a man who felt the same. i know what it is like to shop with a small budget for food, and only be able to buy 2000 buck cars, and to only go to the movies a few times a year, matinees only. but i have never felt comfortable calling myself poor. i have options. i clean up well, spell well, type well (when i need to), and i am white. i can throw my stanford education at someone should i need to, though most have no idea what that really means. i have endured tragedy and abuse but so have many in all income levels. the woman above may have had such survivor guilt she couldn't live on her money, but if her landlord could have given this job/room to someone with more financial need, who is to say she was so worthy of our kind feelings. he could have seen that she was so damaged that her financial condition was not a consideration. the 'homeless' gentleman who bequeathed so much to npr, we would call eccentric, but if he got sympathy for being a neat and tidy, well-spoken homeless man, that doesn't do much for me. i knew a man who had started riding the rails in the thirties, and chose to keep doing it because he loved it. he worked a little, saw friends on a fairly regular schedule, and spent his life as he wished. i never thought of him as homeless, just on his own path. rambling just as i am now! anyone else have these 'non-charitable' thoughts?

[boomerbust]

6. Last known employer

Madoff?

[proteus_lives]

7. What a person.

I hope she knows nothing but peace and light now.

[Withywindle]

8. A lot of survivors of war and trauma and deprivation have attitudes about money we'd consider "weird

If she'd been on a consumerist path, with a drive to keep up a middle-class lifestyle, that $300,000 would have gone fast. She lived in New York? Yes, VERY fast.

Obviously she probably had mental issues. Obviously she didn't feel comfortable spending money. Obviously she had experience in surviving on very little. I have mixed feelings about this. I wish she hadn't been homeless. On the other hand, 92 is a very respectable age that I would be happy to reach (many, many rich people don't), and I think at the end, she had something to do; a safe, clean place to sleep; and food, and considering where she had been, I bet she knew how to appreciate that.

This really isn't uncommon among war survivors and Depression survivors, as far as I know.


I guess my biggest sadness here is that Studs Terkel didn't get to interview her for a book.

[marasinghe]

10. agree in general. but, is it she, or us, with the mental issues? my bet's on the rest of us. (n/t)

[Withywindle]

11. Yup, I agree, when I think about it.

For the world of her youth that she adapted to - she was extremely sane and very smart.

[LisaL]

12. She had 300,000 but was living on the street.

I frankly don't find it inspiring. I think it's rather sad.

[Withywindle]

13. The money she had meant she had a choice.

Although it wouldn't have lasted long in NY.

[LisaL]

14. I am pretty sure it would have covered rent for quite some time.

Especially for an elderly person who presumably could have applied for the special programs.

[Divine Discontent]

15. she lived as a minimalist, and who knows the good things she did for others while alive

I find her story quite inspiring. I live somewhat minimalist in some regards compared to what I could, and I care for a very sick person, and hearing her story just wows me, she was an amazing person. I like when I hear of others living a simple life, but she takes the cake and her treasures are in heaven, imho.

[Behind the Aegis]

9. Very inspiring and humbling.