Oldest Holocaust Survivor in Israel, Yehuda Wideski, Dies at 107

Yehuda Wideski, recognized as the oldest Holocaust survivor in Israel, passed away at the age of 107. Wideski was a symbol of resilience, having survived the Lodz Ghetto and concentration camps in Poland before immigrating to Israel, aiding the Irgun, and dedicating his life to preserving Jewish memory and restoring thousands of graves in Poland.

Born in 1919 in Turzysk, Poland, into a religious Zionist family, Wideski's early life was marked by his family's moves and his involvement in the Hasmonean youth movement. He managed a textile factory before the German invasion in 1939. Following the establishment of the Lodz Ghetto in 1940, his family operated a sewing workshop for the Nazis, employing dozens of Jews under forced labor.

In August 1944, Wideski and his family were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. His parents and older brother were murdered, and his younger brother and sister perished in other camps. Wideski and his brother Joshua were the only survivors from their immediate family, eventually being liberated by the Red Army in May 1945.

After the war, Wideski returned to Lodz, remarried, and re-established his textile factory. He also assisted the Irgun with arms shipments from Poland. In 1950, he immigrated to Israel with his wife and son, settling in Tel Aviv.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Wideski embarked on his life's work of restoring Jewish heritage in Poland. He traveled extensively, mapping and renovating over 7,000 tombstones in the Lodz ghetto cemetery and locating and rebuilding the ohels (structures over graves) of prominent Rebbes in Sochaczew and Dąbrowa Górnicza. In 2012, he was honored with lighting a memorial torch at the Yad Vashem central ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day. He lived to see his fifth generation in Israel.