Holocaust Survivor, Ireland’s Oldest Man Josef Veselsky, Dies at 107

Josef “Joe” Veselsky, a Holocaust survivor, resistance fighter and pioneering figure in Irish table tennis, died Saturday at the age of 107. Irish media reported he was believed to be the oldest man in the country.

Veselsky’s life spanned the Holocaust, the resistance against Nazi rule, postwar displacement and his eventual resettlement in Ireland, where he became a central figure in table tennis and public symbol of resilience. 

Born Josef Weiss in October 1918 in Trnava, then part of Czechoslovakia, Veselsky grew up in a religious Jewish family. When Nazi Germany invaded, his mother urged him to change his name to something “more Slovak” to avoid arrest. As mass deportations of Jews began, he joined the Czech resistance and survived the war in the Carpathian Mountains.

“In the mountains, you know, when they sent us on a difficult mission, they gave us a glass of vodka. But I never drank it. I changed it with the boys for half a loaf of bread, so I was the best fed,” Veselsky told The University Times in a 2016 interview.

His parents and older brother were murdered at Auschwitz. Veselsky watched as his family was pushed onto cattle trucks, but he did not learn the full details of their fate until decades later, after Nazi records became accessible.

“He was initially very upset to see that in writing: when they were taken, where they were taken and when they were killed. The record-keeping by the Nazis was that good that they had all this information written down,” his grandson, Nicholas Brown, told RTÉ. “He cried then and my father had never seen him cry. For him it was some kind of closure and relief to know what exactly had happened.”

After the war, Veselsky served as secretary to a minister in the Czechoslovak government. When the communists came to power in 1948, he fled the country with his wife. The family initially planned to emigrate to Australia, but after their daughter was deemed too ill for the long sea journey, friends advised them to move to Ireland. They settled permanently in Dublin in 1949.

There, Veselsky built a successful jewelry business importing Swiss watches and later Japanese pearls. Alongside his business career, he emerged as a central figure in table tennis. He had previously captained the Czechoslovak national table tennis team and went on to serve for more than 20 years as captain of Ireland’s national team. He was later named life president of the Irish Table Tennis Association, and the Joe Veselsky Award was established in his honor.

“Joe Veselsky’s resilience, integrity, and lifelong dedication to table tennis leave an enduring legacy,” Table Tennis Ireland wrote in a statement. “He will be remembered with great respect and gratitude.”

Veselsky received numerous honors over his lifetime, including the Order of the Slovak National Uprising, the Slovak Order of the White Double Cross and the European Table Tennis Union’s Badge of Honour. “Joe Veselsky’s life stands as a testament to the unifying power of sport, the endurance of the human spirit, and the values that table tennis seeks to promote across generations,” the European Table Tennis Union wrote in an obituary.

Even in advanced age, Veselsky remained active. In 2010, at 91, he began taking external courses in history and humanities at Trinity College Dublin, becoming the institution’s oldest student. In 2016, the university awarded him an honorary master of arts degree.

“He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word, and an inspiration to all who were lucky enough to know him,” the university’s School of Histories and Humanities wrote.

Veselsky is survived by his children, Peter and Kate, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. According to the family, he is remembered as a figure “larger than life,” whose survival, leadership and generosity left a lasting mark in Ireland and beyond.