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East Hampton Holocaust survivor says she faces possible eviction for $16K in unpaid rent

Judy Sleed's home of 20 years is at risk, and she says it is all due to banking and administrative mix-ups.

Rachel Yonkunas

Mar 23, 2023, 9:58 PM

Updated 622 days ago

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A 90-year-old Holocaust survivor is facing eviction from her home of 20 years.
It took Judy Sleed decades to open up about surviving the Holocaust and losing her family. As a 12-year-old girl, Sleed said she "lost everything and everyone" when she was separated from her parents and brother in Hungary back in 1944.
She moved from her birthplace in Budapest to various safe houses, then her relatives' homes. After all these years, she still has the last post card she received from her father, that reads "We're OK. Only God is going to help us."
"What the Nazis were doing is giving people postcards to write home before they put them in the gas chamber," Sleed said. "So that post card is very dear to me."
When she was 15, Sleed moved to the United States to build a new life. She got married, had three children, got divorced and eventually settled in 20 years ago at the Windmill Village Senior Complex in East Hampton, the first HUD development on Long Island's East End.
"When I first saw this apartment, I was so happy because for a long time I was living with people," added Sleed. "I didn't have my own and I felt that now I have a home."
Now, she's at risk of losing her home—again. Her son Jeff Sleed has been living with her full-time to take care of her and sleeps on the couch. Sleed said that her landlord considered him a tenant , with added income, and more than tripled her rent in March 2022.
Judy Sleed said she could not afford the price increase and has reapplied for state rental assistance. Meanwhile, she is now behind more than $16,000 in unpaid rent and is facing eviction.
"I'm not a child now and I have no place to go. I can't ask anybody to take me in and I don't wish to be in a situation like that," Judy Sleed said.
Windmill Village management has not returned News 12's requests for comment.
Stanislav Gomberg, an attorney, said he was approached by The Blue Card organization to help Sleed fight her eviction proceedings.
"She's been through so many trials and tribulations, but it's worth noting she's come out of all of those challenges ahead," Gomberg said.
Gomberg started a GoFundMe page to help cover Judy Sleed's unpaid rent, groceries and other living expenses. He said a tentative court date in her eviction process is April 3, but he is hoping to have enough money raised for a settlement agreement.
The outpouring of support from strangers has given Judy Sleed a renewed hope for a home—once again.
"It's very touching that so many people do care and want to help," Judy Sleed said.