Oldest Holocaust Survivor in Israel, Yehuda Aaron Videsky, Dies at 107

Yehuda Aaron Videsky, recognized as the oldest Holocaust survivor in Israel, passed away at the age of 107 on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. Videsky, who survived the Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz, dedicated his life to building a large family in Israel and undertaking a unique life's work of restoring thousands of Jewish graves and cemeteries in Poland.

Videsky was born in July 1919 in Turke, Poland, near Lodz, to a religious Zionist family. Before World War II, his family moved to Lodz. When the war broke out, he demonstrated resourcefulness by securing housing for 15 family members within the ghetto. In August 1944, his family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau on the last transport. His parents and most of his siblings perished there, with only Videsky and his brother Joshua surviving the initial selection. They were later sent to the Friedland labor camp, where Videsky devised a method to hide aircraft parts to protect prisoners from severe punishments for failing to meet production quotas.

After the war, Videsky returned to Lodz, where he married his wife, Devorah, also a Holocaust survivor. He also covertly assisted the Irgun underground organization by sending weapons. In 1950, he immigrated to Israel with his family, settling in Tel Aviv. There, he established a new life, raised a large family, and pursued a career as a businessman.

Videsky's story of resilience was nationally recognized in 2012 when he was chosen to light a memorial torch at the Yad Vashem ceremony on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Beyond his business and family life, Videsky left a significant historical legacy through his preservation efforts. Starting in 1978, even under the strict communist regime in Poland, he began frequent trips to his native country. What began as a personal search for his grandmother's grave evolved into a monumental life's work. He led the restoration of the Lodz cemetery, renewed thousands of tombstones, and identified and rebuilt the tombs of the Rebbes of the Sochaczew and Modzitz Hasidic dynasties. In this capacity, he personally aided in identifying over 3,000 lost and forgotten Jewish graves.

He is survived by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.