Yehuda Aharon Widawski, Holocaust survivor, dies at 107

Yehuda Aharon Widawski, one of the world's oldest Holocaust survivors, passed away in Israel on September 11 at the age of 107. Born in Turek, Poland, in 1919, Widawski and his family were deported to Auschwitz in 1944, where his parents and eldest brother were murdered. He and his younger brother survived the Friedland work camp, liberated in 1945. Widawski later married Lea Dobrysz, had a son, and helped smuggle weapons for the Irgun before immigrating to Israel in 1950, where he established several businesses.

“Yehuda once said that his revenge against the Nazis was that they lost—and that we have the State of Israel.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog eulogized him, recalling Widawski's belief that his life was a testament to the victory of life and the existence of Israel. Widawski also dedicated decades to identifying over 3,000 graves of missing Jews and restoring the Jewish cemetery in Lodz. In 2012, he lit a torch at Israel’s Yom HaShoah ceremony at Yad Vashem. He is survived by a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren.