Mrs. Yenta (Judith) Siegal-Potash a”h passed away early Friday morning. She was approximately 94 years old.
Her first husband was “Yakob der zinger” made famous for his mesiras nefesh by R’ Yom Tov Ehrlich.
Born in Munkacz, Hungary, she witnessed significant historical events during her life. She attended the wedding of the Minchas Elazar’s daughter. She was sent to Auschwitz during World War II and became the sole survivor of her family from the Holocaust.
After the war, she eventually made her way to Paris, where she crossed paths with Yaakov Potash, a yeshiva student originally from Radzimyn, Poland, who had previously studied in Baranovich and Stolin.
Their union was marked by a memorable moment during the mitzvah tantz at their wedding. R’ Yom Tov Ehrlich, a friend of Yaakov, composed and performed a well-known song that recounted the chosson’s daring escape from a Soviet kolkhoz in Uzbekistan to evade a forced marriage to a non-Jewish woman.
Yaakov passed away at the relatively young age of 53 in 1979. Judith later remarried Rav Shmuel Dovid Siegal, a respected member of Baltimore’s yeshiva community. He passed away in 2017.
Throughout her life, Mrs. Siegal-Potash rarely shared details about her personal experiences, except for a single interview with the Yated last year. In that interview, she expressed contentment with her life and declared that she only felt nachas.
Yehi zichrah boruch.
{Matzav.com}