She Lived Through It All, but Even She Couldn’t Outrun Time!

A woman who defied history’s darkest chapter and lived to tell the tale has passed away at 113. Rose Girone, believed to be the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor, endured unspeakable horrors yet built a life of strength, purpose, and survival.

Her family confirmed her passing Monday morning at the Belair Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in North Bellmore, Long Island.

Girone’s story is one of unbreakable will. Born in 1912 in Yanov, Poland, she moved with her family to Hamburg, Germany, as a child. In 1938, she married Julius Manheim, a fellow German Jew, and settled in Breslau—now Wroclaw, Poland—just as Nazi brutality reached a terrifying peak.

Kristallnacht, the night of shattered glass and shattered lives, marked the beginning of her nightmare. She was eight months pregnant when her husband was seized by Nazi forces and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp.

“My father was in a concentration camp when I was born,” her daughter, Reha Bennicasa, recalled at Girone’s 113th birthday celebration last month.

Manheim was released under one condition—the family had to pay a fee and leave Germany within six weeks.

With no choice but escape, they fled to Shanghai, China, one of the few places in the world willing to take in Jewish refugees during World War II. There, Girone turned to knitting—what started as a simple craft soon became her profession.

By 1947, the war was over, and the family resettled in the United States. New York became their home, and Girone opened two knitting stores in Queens, becoming a cherished part of the local community.

“She made the best of terrible situations. She was very level-headed, very commonsensical,” Bennicasa said.

Her life spanned history’s greatest tragedies and triumphs, yet her philosophy remained simple: have a purpose.

“She always said to me, ‘Always have a purpose in life. Get up, and always have a purpose,’” her granddaughter Gina shared.

And she had another secret to longevity—dark chocolate.

“She always said the secret to her longevity is she loves to eat dark chocolate,” Gina told the Long Island Herald last month.

Girone’s incredible journey ended peacefully, but her legacy of resilience, strength, and survival will live on. She is survived by her daughter and granddaughter, both carrying forward the story of a woman who, against all odds, never stopped moving forward.