Nina Smagarinskaya

Nina (Nehama) Smagarinskaya, died Sunday February 7th, in her home in Waltham, Mass, surrounded by her family. She leaves behind a son, David Gorkhover of Brooklyn, NY, and his children Mariya and Salomon Gorkhover; and daughter Elvira Aronzon and her husband Edward Aronzon, of Waltham MA, and their children Inna Natanel and her husband Uri Natanel, and Dina Aronzon and her husband Lee Biernbaum, as well as five great grandchildren.

The youngest of 3 children, Nina was born on May 20, 1929, to Basya Chaya and Zalman Smagarinskiy in Bragin, Belorussia. With the advent of WWII, Nina's childhood came to a halt. Her father was drafted into the Soviet Army and killed in action. Shortly after the Nazi invasion of Nina's town, her mother was executed along with many other Jewish residents of the area. Nina and her siblings were separated during the evacuation efforts, and Nina spent the remainder of the war in an orphanage in the Ural Mountains of Siberia. At the war's end, she was located by her sister, and at the age of 16, Nina traveled alone across the Soviet Union to meet her siblings. She traveled by train, without food or money, relying on people's kindness, and they didn't fail her.

Nina married Simon Gorkhover of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in 1950. Nina and Simon spent 19 very happy years together, until his sudden death in 1970. She was never able to get past losing her husband and her immediate family, along with husband's cousins, became her world. She loved to talk to people visiting the family, and was ready to tell her fascinating story again and again. She was quite the story teller!

Nina also fulfilled her dream and finished her teacher certification while having a family and a 3 year old son. For the next 30+ years she worked as a librarian, passing her tremendous love and respect for books on to her children and grandchildren.

Nina immigrated to the US when she was 62 years old. She worked really hard to learn English. She learned enough to pass her written citizenship exam and to enjoy talking to her grandsons-in-law! The last many years she lived a quiet life devoted to her family, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, please contribute to Jewish Family Services of Northeaster PA, who were so helpful when Nina and her family immigrated to America.http://www.jfsnepa.org