Rose Girone, the oldest known Holocaust survivor, who endured both German and Japanese oppression, passed away at the age of 113. Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Reha Bennicasa. Girone lived more than eight decades beyond the end of World War II, holding the title of the oldest living Holocaust survivor, as recognized by the New York-based Claims Conference, an organization that manages compensation from Germany to Nazi victims.
Girone died on Monday at a nursing home in Bellmore, New York. Born Rosa Raubvogel in 1912 in southeastern Poland, which was then part of Russia, she later moved to Hamburg, Germany, as a child. In 1937, she married Julius Mannheim, a German Jew. When Girone was nine months pregnant, her husband was deported to Buchenwald, one of the most infamous Nazi concentration camps.
In a 1996 interview, she shared that a Nazi soldier had come to arrest her husband but also attempted to arrest her. However, another soldier intervened, suggesting that she should not be arrested because she was pregnant. Soon after, Girone gave birth to her daughter, Reha, in 1938.
Due to Hitler’s restrictions on Jewish names, Girone explained that she couldn’t name her daughter as she had intended. Instead, she chose the only name she liked from a list of pre-approved names for Jewish children.
Rose Girone sent a postcard to her husband while he was in Buchenwald, sharing the news of their baby’s birth, including her weight. During this time, Girone learned that a relative in London could help them obtain exit visas to Shanghai, one of the few ports still accepting Jewish refugees.
In a 1996 interview, Girone explained that her relative knew someone who had access to Chinese visas, which proved essential for their escape. Without this connection, she said, “I don’t know what would have happened to us.” Until 1940, some concentration camp prisoners, including Jews, were able to secure their release under specific conditions. With the visa in hand, Girone was able to secure her husband’s release from Buchenwald. However, they were instructed to leave Germany within six weeks and surrender all their jewelry, savings, and valuables, as they were not allowed to take them with them.
The family sailed to Shanghai, grateful to have escaped the terror of the Nazis. However, shortly after their arrival, Japan’s war against China escalated, and the Japanese occupied Chinese seaports. The Jews were forced into ghettos, and the family found themselves living in a small, cockroach-infested room under a staircase in an apartment building that had once been a bathroom. Life in the ghetto was harsh; no one could leave without permission from a Japanese official who referred to himself as “The King of the Jews.”
While in China, Girone began knitting clothes to sell, a trade she continued throughout her life and considered a source of her strength.
Her daughter, Reha Bennicasa, shared in an interview that, despite the hardships they faced in both Germany and China, her mother was incredibly resilient. “We were lucky to get out alive, but she could take anything,” she said.
After World War II, Rose Girone and her family relocated to the United States. She started working as a knitting instructor and lived in various locations throughout the New York area, eventually opening her own knitting store in Queens.
Her first marriage ended in divorce, and she later married Jack Girone.
In an interview, Girone shared that surviving such hardships taught her to find something positive even in tragic circumstances. “Nothing is so bad that something good shouldn’t come out of it,” she said, adding that her experiences made her “unafraid” and gave her the confidence that she could accomplish anything.
Her daughter, Reha Bennicasa, reflected on her mother’s strength, stating that through her example, she felt prepared to face anything life might bring.
According to the Claims Conference, there are about 245,000 Holocaust survivors still alive today, with approximately 14,000 residing in New York.