A couple in Israel is suspected of burying a Holocaust survivor on their property after her death a year and a half ago in order to continue receiving benefits on her behalf, DPA reported, BTA reported.
According to Israeli police, the 93-year-old woman received financial support from the Israeli state, as well as from various organizations. Several Israeli media outlets reported that the elderly woman had been receiving monthly benefits of more than 4,600 euros, including from Germany.
Emergency services found her body in late September in a 3-meter-deep pit on the family property in the northern Israeli town of Karmiel, police said.
The woman lived there with her daughter and her daughter's partner. Both have been detained, police said. Police opened an investigation into the case last month after relatives expressed concern for the elderly woman's well-being.
The daughter gave them conflicting information about her mother's health. But after speaking to police, the 64-year-old daughter and her partner admitted that their mother had died in April 2024. However, they gave conflicting accounts of where she was buried.
Israeli police said the woman's body had been transferred to a forensic institute. Israeli news outlet Ynet reported that the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death were not yet ready.
The daughter's partner was suspected of burying the woman's body, police said. The man later committed suicide while in custody, they added. After the body of the deceased was discovered, she was buried with honors a year and a half after her death, the "Jerusalem Post" reported.
The police noted that criminal proceedings against the daughter, who is suspected of fraud, obstruction of justice, failure to report and failure to fulfill a legal obligation, are ongoing. During the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945, the German National Socialists and their collaborators killed about 6 million Jews. Today, nearly 120,000 Holocaust survivors still live in Israel, DPA reported.