Holocaust Survivor Fights Off Mugger, Gets Letter From Hillary Clinton

Image by Screenshot From New York Post Video, via JTA
( a woman trying to steal her purse received a letter from Hillary Clinton.
Gina Zuckerman held on to her purse while sustaining injuries in the mugging attack in New York’s Greenwich Village neighborhood last month. In addition to Clinton’s letter, she received a proclamation from New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman on Thursday, DNAinfo reported.
“This was the most wonderful day of my life,” Zuckerman told DNAinfo after receiving Hoylman’s framed proclamation, which honors her for “bravery in standing her ground,” at the New York City senior center where she volunteers.
According to reports, a large woman attacked Zuckerman on Sept. 27 and dug her nails into her arm, causing her to bleed. Zuckerman was thrown to the ground but escaped with her purse.
“You are, indeed, a fighter!” Clinton writes in the letter, which was dated Oct. 3.
Clinton also thanked Zuckerman for supporting her over Donald Trump, whom Zuckerman called “rude” in an interview after the mugging attack.
“I agree, I don’t like rude people either,” the letter says.
Zuckerman, born in Poland, spent six years during World War II in a German labor camp. She has lived in New York for the past 60 years.
“Your life story is an inspiration,” the letter reads. “In many ways, you remind me of my mother, and your tenacity and optimism bring a smile to my face.”
Read the full letter here.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Should Diaspora Jews be buried in Israel? A rabbi responds
-
Fast Forward In first Sunday address, Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire in Gaza, release of hostages
-
Fast Forward Huckabee denies rift between Netanyahu and Trump as US actions in Middle East appear to leave out Israel
-
Fast Forward Federal security grants to synagogues are resuming after two-month Trump freeze
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.