The grandson of Holocaust survivor and champion table tennis player Josef Veselsky said his grandfather would be remembered as a “larger than life” personality who was also deeply kind.
Mr Veselsky, believed to be Ireland’s oldest man, passed away on 3 January at the age of 107, reports RTE.
He was born in 1918 in Trnava, in what was then Czechoslovakia, on the very day the Czechoslovak republic was officially established.
At 20 years of age, after Adolf Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, he became involved in the Resistance and survived the conflict by hiding in the Carpathian Mountains, reports RTE.
After World War II, he later captained the Czechoslovak national table tennis team and represented his country at the highest competitive level.
The European Table Tennis Union said in a statement that the global table tennis community is mourning the death of Mr Veselsky, reports RTE.
According to the European Table Tennis Union, his parents and older brother were murdered in Auschwitz, a tragedy that “left an indelible mark on his life”.
For his courage during the war, he was subsequently awarded the Order of the Slovak National Uprising, reports RTE.
In 1949, Mr Veselsky and his wife Katarina, known as Kathy, fled the post-war political regime and emigrated to Ireland, where he went on to build a successful jewellery business despite having limited English and no prior business experience.
His grandson Nicholas Browne said his grandfather was a compassionate man who made time to listen and engage with people from all backgrounds, reports RTE.
Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, he said Mr Veselsky only learned the details surrounding the deportation of his parents and brother to Auschwitz later in his life.
“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 Mr Browne, reports RTE.
“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,” reports RTE.
After the communist and Soviet takeover of Czechoslovakia in the post-war period, Mr Veselsky once again felt unsafe and chose to leave the country, reports RTE.
“He heard through some contacts that Ireland was a good place to go and that he would be able to move to Ireland and so they moved here in 1949,” Mr Browne said, reports RTE.
Mr Browne said his grandfather discovered his true passion in table tennis, both competing and coaching across Dublin and Wicklow, reports RTE.
Mr Veselsky played a pivotal role in the growth of table tennis in Ireland and later became Life President of the Irish Table Tennis Association.
To honour his contribution, the Joe Veselsky Award was created to recognise excellence in table tennis administration in Ireland, reports RTE.
The European Table Tennis Union said he remained mentally and socially engaged even in his later years.
Widely known as Ireland’s oldest student, he attended courses at Trinity College Dublin and received an honorary degree in 2016, reports RTE.
Mr Browne said his grandfather attended lectures for more than a decade and that the honorary degree reflected his commitment to lifelong learning.
“Mr 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 TCD Students Union said in a statement, reports RTE.
“He is survived by his children Peter and Kate, and by a legacy that will continue to inspire the table tennis community in Europe and beyond,” reports RTE.
Mr Veselsky’s funeral service will take place at 10am on Wednesday at the Victorian Chapel in Mount Jerome Crematorium in Harold’s Cross, Dublin, reports RTE.
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