Joe Veselsky
Joe Veselsky was born in Czechoslovakia in 1918. His parents and elder brother were killed in Auschwitz. Having joined the Resistance, he was later decorated with the Order of the Slovak National Uprising. With his wife, Katarina, he escaped the Prague coup of 1948 and came to Ireland where he established his own jewellery business. Joe is 104 and lives in Dublin.
From Czechoslovakia to Ireland
Jozef (Joe) Veselsky was born in Trnava, in former Czechoslovakia, in 1918. He was a keen sportsman all his life and, as a young man, became a high-ranking table tennis player.
When Joe was twenty years old, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. He joined the Resistance and survived the war in the Carpathian Mountains. At war’s end in 1945, Joe had lost both his parents and his brother, who were all murdered in Auschwitz.
After the war, Joe captained the Czechoslovak table-tennis team. Life was difficult under the political regime at the time, but, in 1949, with little English or business experience, Joe managed to emigrate to Ireland where he started what became a successful jewelry business. He married Katarina, known as Kathy, and they had two children, Peter and Kate.
Joe became Life President of the Irish Table Tennis Association. He initiated the Joe Veselsky Award in recognition of endeavor and achievement in table-tennis administration within the Irish association.
Joe is a recipient of the Order of the White Double Cross, presented by the Slovakian government in 2021 for his services to sport. He maintains a keen interest in all facets of Irish life.
Joe with fellow Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental and Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland.
Ireland’s Oldest Student
Honorary Degree at Trinity College Dublin, 2020
Joe is Ireland’s oldest student, having studied a variety of short and evening courses within the School of History at Trinity College Dublin. In 2016, he was awarded an Honorary Degree alongside Professor Peter Higgs, discoverer of the Higgs boson, and J.P. Dunleavy, author of The Ginger Man.
