The oldest known Holocaust survivor, Rose Girone, passes away at the age of 113

At the age of 113, Rose Girone, the oldest known Holocaust survivor, passed away, leaving a legacy of endurance and tenacity.

According to her family and the Claims Conference, a nonprofit group that supports Holocaust survivors, Rose Girone, who is thought to be the oldest known Holocaust survivor, died on Thursday at the age of 113. CNN reports that she passed away at a nursing home in Bellmore, New York, on Monday.

Girone’s life was characterized by extreme adversity and fortitude. She was eight months pregnant during World War II when her husband was detained and taken to the Buchenwald detention camp.
The family fled Nazi-controlled Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), after his release, and sought safety in Shanghai, China.

She was a resilient and powerful woman. In a statement, her daughter, fellow Holocaust survivor Reha Bennicasa, stated, “She made the best of terrible situations.” Bennicasa said, “She was very level-headed, very commonsense,” describing her mother as practical and level-headed. Ever since I was a child, there was nothing I couldn’t bring to her for assistance.

With Girone’s death, another connection to a horrific period of history is lost. Approximately 14,000 of the 245,000 Holocaust survivors who are still living today live in New York, according to the Claims Conference.

Like the stories of so many survivors, hers is proof of the human spirit’s ability to persevere in the face of unfathomable hardship.