A survivor in life, North Bellmore's Rose Girone set to mark 111 years

Rose Girone fled Nazi Germany with her 6-month-old daughter after her husband was sent to a concentration camp. Girone, her husband and their daughter eventually fled to China before immigrating to Queens, where she opened a knitting business she ran for more than 40 years.

Now, nine years later, Girone is set to celebrate her 111th birthday Friday with family at the North Bellmore nursing home where she lives. Girone is believed to be the longest-living person on Long Island and one of the oldest living Holocaust survivors.

On Monday, she was joined at the Belair Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in North Bellmore by her daughter, Reha Bennicasa, 84, and granddaughter, Gina Bennicasa, 55, ready to mark another year after being diagnosed with asymptomatic COVID-19 on her 110th birthday.

Girone lived alone in Whitestone, Queens, until she was 102. She's lived at the North Bellmore facility ever since.

Girone fell at 109 and broke her hip, suffers from dementia and is hard of hearing. Even so, she can still relay memories of living abroad and coming to America. She credits her long life to two things — her family and eating dark chocolate every day.

“The secret is good children. Look at my gorgeous grandchild, that’s the perfect purpose,” Girone said, adding, “I’m a chocoholic.”

Reha and Gina Bennicasa, both of Merrick, said the family’s matriarch always advised to wake up with a purpose. They each wore sweaters knitted by Girone.

“She's my living miracle,” Reha Bennicasa said.

The family recalled the stories of living in Germany before they were forced to flee.

Girone, who was born in Poland, would recall how her husband was rounded up by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp when she was 8 months pregnant. He threw her the keys to the car after the Nazis said to leave her behind, Girone's family said.

During the Kristallnacht riots, she fled by train until it was safe to come back. Then, because Girone is Jewish, she struggled to find a hospital to give birth, said Reha Bennicasa, who received her name from a list the Nazis used to identify newborns as Jewish.

“She’s been a survivor. The family has a history of longevity,” Bennicasa said. “My mother had a lot of courage and it’s remarkable what she went through. I guess it's kind of thumbing your nose at Hitler.”

Girone was able to buy her husband’s freedom by turning over the family’s costume business in Hamburg, Germany, and agreeing to flee the country, Bennicasa said. The only option left was Shanghai. The family lived there in squalor and amid vermin while staying in makeshift apartments converted from bathrooms, according to Bennicasa.

In 1947, the family immigrated to Queens and lived with relatives. Contributions from charity organizations helped them eventually find a home in the borough. Girone began working in a Brooklyn yarn shop and would eventually divorce her husband, Reha Bennicasa said.

Girone then opened her own knitting shop in Rego Park before moving the business to Forest Hills. She eventually remarried. Even though Girone closed the store nine years ago, Bennicasa said, Forest Hills neighbors and shopkeepers still remember and ask about her.

“My claim to fame is my mother and our store in Forest Hills,” Bennicasa said.

For her birthday, Girone will be joined by her family for a pizza party at the nursing home.

Her granddaughter, Gina Bennicasa, said she always learned from listening to her grandmother’s stories.

“It’s amazing, what you’re learning in school is what your mother and grandmother have gone through,” she said. “It makes you see the world in a different way.”

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.