BDE: Mrs. Devora Citron, a”h, Holocaust Survivor

We are saddened to inform you of the passing of Mrs. Citron, yet another member of our precious she’eiris hapleitah. She was 93. 

 

She was born in Romania in the year 1928, to her parents, Reb Shmelka and Reizel Spitz. They were descendants of the famed Rav Shmuel Shmelka Spitz, zt”l, of Selish, and she grew up in an idyllic atmosphere infused with Torah. 

 

Until the terrible Churban Europa came and consumed that entire world—including her entire family. She spent a few years in the geihinom of Auschwitz, and miraculously survived. 

 

Following the war, she met her future husband, Reb Moshe Citron of Dorog. He was a grandson of the famed Doroger Rov, Rav Zev Volf Citron, zt”l. He was also her cousin, also a grandchild of the Selisher Rov. 

 

He was a talmid chochom, and together they would establish a home permeated with Torah. 

 

They lived in Brazil, until the 1980’s, when they moved to Boro Park. 

 

Here began a new chapter, when Reb Moshe became surrounded by young scholars seeking to glean from his Torah, and his transmission of the tradition from the old world. 

 

“When I would come by to speak with Reb Moshe in learning, my aunt Devorah, a very learned woman, would always interject her wise insights,” recalls a nephew. “She was the one who encouraged him to abandon his business and spend his days and nights learning and writing seforim.” 

 

A niece related that despite the incredible suffering that Mrs. Citron endured—in Auschwitz, and in a lifetime of childlessness—no one ever heard her complain. “She overflowed with good middos and simcha, which washed over all of her devoted nieces and nephews. 

 

This exceptional couple will long be remembered among her loving family to whom she gave so much, and whose love they returned in ample measure. 

 

The Levaya will take place at 9:30 Sunday morning in front of the Munkatcher Beis Medrash, where the Citrons davened for years, with kevurah at the Klausenberger chelka. 

 

Yehi Zichra Baruch.