Josef “Joe” Veselsky, a Holocaust survivor and desk tennis champion who spent greater than a 12 months as Eire’s oldest man, died on Saturday at 107.
Born Joseph Weiss to a Jewish household in Trnava in what was then Czechoslovakia in 1918, Veselsky was 20 when Hitler invaded the nation. He modified his title after his mom, Bertha, urged him to alter his title to “one thing a bit extra Slovak,” in line with the Irish Occasions.
Veselsky joined the resistance and survived the warfare within the Carpathian Mountains, in line with Holocaust Training Eire.
“Within the mountains, , once they despatched us on a tough mission, they gave us a glass of vodka. However I by no means drank it. I modified it with the boys for half a loaf of bread, so I used to be the very best fed,” Veselsky instructed the College Occasions, the scholar newspaper of Trinity School Dublin, in 2016.
Veselsky’s older brother and fogeys have been killed in Auschwitz, however he didn’t study the small print of their destiny till later in life, his grandson Nicholas Browne instructed the Irish public broadcaster RTÉ.
“He was initially very upset to see that in writing: once they have been taken, the place they have been taken and once they have been killed. The record-keeping by the Nazis was that good – that that they had all this info written down,” stated Browne. “He cried then and my father had by no means seen him cry. For him it was some type of closure and reduction – to know what precisely had occurred.”
Following the warfare, Veselsky served because the captain of the Czechoslovak nationwide desk tennis group and was later awarded the Order of the Slovak Nationwide Rebellion for his actions in the course of the warfare.
In 1949, he emigrated to Dublin together with his spouse, Katarina, to flee the Communist takeover in his residence nation. There, he began a profitable Jewellery enterprise importing Swiss watches and different jewellery.
Veselsky additionally served because the captain of the Irish nationwide desk tennis group for 20 years, in line with the Irish Occasions, and have become life president of the Irish Desk Tennis Affiliation.
“Joe Veselsky’s resilience, integrity, and lifelong dedication to desk tennis go away an everlasting legacy,” wrote Desk Tennis Eire in a submit on Fb. “On behalf of Desk Tennis Eire, we prolong our honest condolences to his household and buddies. He will probably be remembered with nice respect and gratitude.”
Veselsky additionally earned quite a few accolades over his life, together with the Slovak Order of the White Double Cross, the nation’s highest state ornament, and the European Desk Tennis Union’s Badge of Honour.
“Joe Veselsky’s life stands as a testomony to the unifying energy of sport, the endurance of the human spirit, and the values that desk tennis seeks to advertise throughout generations,” wrote the European Desk Tennis Union in an obituary.
In October 2024, following the dying of Martin McEvilly on the age of 108, Veselsky grew to become the oldest man in Eire.
Often known as Eire’s oldest pupil, Veselsky additionally took courses at Trinity School Dublin the place he was awarded an honorary grasp in arts diploma in 2016.
“He was a real gentleman in each sense of the phrase, and an inspiration to all who have been fortunate sufficient to know him,” wrote the Faculty of Histories and Humanities at Trinity School Dublin in a submit on Fb. “He will probably be deeply missed.”
Veselsky is survived by his youngsters, Peter and Kate, two grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.
