Josef Veselsky, Holocaust survivor and table tennis master who was Ireland’s oldest man, dies at 107

Veselsky served as the captain of the Irish national table tennis team for 20 years and became life president of the Irish Table Tennis Association.

By Grace Gilson, JTA

Josef “Joe” Veselsky, a Holocaust survivor and table tennis champion who spent more than a year as Ireland’s oldest man, died on Saturday at 107.

Born Joseph Weiss to a Jewish family in Trnava in what was then Czechoslovakia in 1918, Veselsky was 20 when Hitler invaded the country.

He changed his name after his mother, Bertha, urged him to change his name to “something a bit more Slovak,” according to the Irish Times.

Veselsky joined the resistance and survived the war in the Carpathian Mountains, according to Holocaust Education Ireland.

“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, the student newspaper of Trinity College Dublin, in 2016.

Veselsky’s older brother and parents were killed in Auschwitz, but he did not learn the details of their fate until later in life, his grandson Nicholas Browne told the Irish public broadcaster RTÉ.

“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,” said Browne.

“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.”

Following the war, Veselsky served as the captain of the Czechoslovak national table tennis team and was later awarded the Order of the Slovak National Uprising for his actions during the war.

In 1949, he emigrated to Dublin with his wife, Katarina, to escape the Communist takeover in his home country. There, he started a successful Jewelry business importing Swiss watches and other jewelry.

Veselsky also served as the captain of the Irish national table tennis team for 20 years, according to the Irish Times, and became life president of the Irish Table Tennis Association.

“Joe Veselsky’s resilience, integrity, and lifelong dedication to table tennis leave an enduring legacy,” wrote Table Tennis Ireland in a post on Facebook.

“On behalf of Table Tennis Ireland, we extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends. He will be remembered with great respect and gratitude.”

Veselsky also earned numerous accolades over his life, including the Slovak Order of the White Double Cross, the country’s highest state decoration, 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,” wrote the European Table Tennis Union in an obituary.

In October 2024, following the death of Martin McEvilly at the age of 108, Veselsky became the oldest man in Ireland.

Known as Ireland’s oldest student, Veselsky also took classes at Trinity College Dublin where he was awarded an honorary master in arts degree in 2016.

“He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word, and an inspiration to all who were lucky enough to know him,” wrote the School of Histories and Humanities at Trinity College Dublin in a post on Facebook. “He will be deeply missed.”

Veselsky is survived by his children, Peter and Kate, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.