Northeast
Rose Girone, oldest living Holocaust survivor, dies at 113
Rose Girone, believed to be the oldest living Holocaust survivor and a strong advocate for sharing survivors’ stories, has died. She was 113.
She died Monday in New York, according to the Claims Conference, a New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
MY FATHER SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST. CENSORSHIP DIDN’T STOP THE NAZIS, IT HELPED THEM
“Rose was an example of fortitude but now we are obligated to carry on in her memory,” Greg Schneider, Claims Conference executive vice president, said in a statement Thursday. “The lessons of the Holocaust must not die with those who endured the suffering.”
Girone was born on January 13, 1912, in Janow, Poland. Her family moved to Hamburg, Germany, when she was 6, she said in a filmed interview in 1996 with the USC Shoah Foundation.
When asked by the interviewer if she had any particular career plans before Hitler, she said: “Hitler came in 1933 and then it was over for everybody.”
Girone was one of about 245,000 survivors still living across more than 90 countries, according to a study released by the Claims Conference last year. Their numbers are quickly dwindling, as most are very old and often of frail health, with a median age of 86.
Six million European Jews and people from other minorities were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.
“This passing reminds us of the urgency of sharing the lessons of the Holocaust while we still have first-hand witnesses with us,” Schneider said. “The Holocaust is slipping from memory to history, and its lessons are too important, especially in today’s world, to be forgotten.”
Girone married Julius Mannheim in 1937 through an arranged marriage.
She was 9 months pregnant living in Breslau, which is now Wroclaw, Poland, when Nazis arrived to take Mannheim to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Their family had two cars and so she asked her husband to leave his keys.
Jens-Christian Wagner (r), Director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, speaks to participants at a wreath-laying ceremony on the roll call square at the Buchenwald Memorial on January 27, 2025. (Martin Schutt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
She said she remembers one Nazi saying: “Take that woman also.”
The other Nazi responded: “She’s pregnant, leave her alone.”
The next morning her father-in-law was also taken and she was left alone with their housekeeper.
After her daughter Reha was born in 1938, Girone was able to secure Chinese visas from relatives in London and secure her husband’s release.
In Genoa, Italy, when Reha was only 6 months old, they boarded a ship to Japan-occupied Shanghai with little more than clothing and some linens.
Her husband first made money through buying and selling secondhand goods. He saved up to buy a car and started a taxi business, while Girone knitted and sold sweaters.
But in 1941, Jewish refugees were rounded up into a ghetto. The family of three were forced to cram into a bathroom in a house while roaches and bed bugs crawled through their belongings.
Her father-in-law came just before World War II started but became sick and died. They had to wait in line for food and lived under the rule of a ruthless Japanese man who called himself “King of the Jews.”
“They did really horrible things to people,” Girone said of the Japanese military trucks that patrolled the streets. “One of our friends got killed because he wouldn’t move fast enough.”
Information about the war in Europe only circulated in the form of rumors, as British radios were not allowed.
When the war was over, they began receiving mail from Girone’s mother, grandmother and other relatives in the U.S. With their help, they boarded a ship to San Francisco in 1947 with only $80, which Girone hid inside buttons.
They arrived in New York City in 1947. She later started a knitting store with the help of her mother.
Girone was also reunited with her brother, who went to France for school and ended up getting his U.S. citizenship by joining the Army. When she went to the airport to pick him up in New York, it was her first time seeing him in 17 years.
Girone later divorced Mannheim. In 1968, she met Jack Girone, the same day her granddaughter was born. By the next year they were married. He died in 1990.
When asked in 1996 for the message she would like to leave for her daughter and granddaughter, she said: “Nothing is so very bad that something good shouldn’t come out of it. No matter what it is.”
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Maine
This Classic New England-Style Cottage in Maine Has 200 Feet of Atlantic Ocean Frontage
A waterfront home with open ocean views on the coast of Maine came to market Tuesday asking $4 million.
Built in 1978, the three-bedroom cottage is at the southern point of Cape Elizabeth, less than 10 miles from downtown Portland. The 1.1-acre property on Sunny Bank Road features 200 feet of south-facing water frontage on the wide open Atlantic.
It is bordered by a rocky sea wall that’s about 28 feet high, according to listing agent Sam Michaud Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
“The views are like a Monet painting,” he said via email. “The water sparkles and the waves are endless.”
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The 3,364-square-foot home was built in classic New England style, with shingle siding, a single sloped roofline and large windows—complemented by white-washed walls, exposed-beam ceilings and wide-plank flooring on the interiors.
The main common area features cathedral ceilings with a step-down between the living and dining room, and a partial wall divides the dining room from the kitchen. There is also a wood-paneled family room off the kitchen, a gym and a covered porch.
The sellers purchased the property in 2010 for $1.562 million, according to property records accessed through PropertyShark. They could not immediately be reached for comment.
“I have received quite a few inquiries since hitting the market two days ago,” Michaud said. “Buyers understand that this is a golden opportunity to own over an acre with 200 feet of bold oceanfront in Cape Elizabeth.”
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There are currently just seven three-bedroom homes available for sale in Cape Elizabeth and fewer than five waterfront properties, according to Sotheby’s and Zillow data. It is also the most expensive listing in the town, with another waterfront property on a tiny lot just south of Portland coming in a close second, according to Zillow.
Michaud sold the former Cape Elizabeth home of Bette Davis this past summer for $13.4 million, the priciest sale on the cape in at least a decade—and even those views can’t compare. They’re “just magical,” he said.
Massachusetts
Body part found in Shirley, Massachusetts pond, police suspect foul play
A body part was found in a pond in Shirley, Massachusetts and investigators said foul play is suspected.
It was discovered around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday as a group of people were walking along Veterans Memorial Bridge on Shaker Road.
Police said the group noticed something suspicious in the water of Phoenix Pond. The Middlesex District Attorney confirmed that the item was a body part, but would not elaborate.
Police shut down the road and divers could be seen exploring the pond late Wednesday. Authorities were back at the scene Thursday morning.
No other information is available at this point in the investigation.
Phoenix Pond connects to the Catacoonamug Brook, which flows into the Nashua River. It’s also connected to Lake Shirley.
Shirley, Massachusetts is about 44 miles northwest of Boston and around 13 miles from the New Hampshire border.
New Hampshire
NH Senate Votes To Hike Turnpike Tolls for Out-of-State Vehicles
By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – While Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte has said she opposes increasing highway toll rates across the state, the Senate voted Thursday to increase rates for out-of-state license plate holders.
It now goes to the House for consideration.
This would be a $1 increase for those who have out of state plates going through the tolls at Hooksett, Hampton and Bedford for out-of-state plates, a 75 cent hike for those taking Hampton’s Exit 2 and on the Spaulding turnpike at Rochester, and a 50 cent hike for those taking the exit off I-93 to Hooksett.
An analysis in the bill shows that this would increase toll revenue by $53.3 million in fiscal year 2027 and go up each year to generate $81.4 million a year in 2036.
Senate Bill 627 passed on a voice vote with two Republicans, Senators Regina Birdsell of Hampstead and William Gannon of Sandown opposing.
Senator Mark E. McConkey, R-Freedom, moved to take the bill off the table and offered an amendment.
He said the last time there was a systemwide increase to the turnpike toll was 19 years ago.
“I am sure we could all agree the cost of operations…has continued to escalate when revenue is not rising with it,” and he noted that with an enterprise fund, the state can only spend what it takes in.
The state has just completed a 10-year highway plan and there was a $400 million shortfall in projects that could not be paid for under the current income.
McConkey said the measure would not increase tolls for New Hampshire drivers with a state license plate.
“Why don’t we ask our neighbors,” to pay a toll increase. “We are getting the best of all worlds,” by passing the bill, he said, including “protecting our residents” and having resources for improvements to the turnpike system.
Sen. Gannon, R-Sandown, asked McConkey if there are any studies on impacts near the border on businesses.
If implemented, McConkey said the state will be the 27th lowest in per mile cost still. McConkey said the bill would also increase from seven to 14 days the amount of time for those with NH license plates to pay for a toll adding there are other states that also have different rates for out-of-state users.
The Hampton toll cost would go from $2 to $3, while Hooksett and Bedford would rise from $1 to $2 for out-of-state plates.
New Hampshire currently has the lowest rate per mile among states with tolls roads.
The governor said she does not support a toll increase.
“We are not going to put a burden on drivers for a toll increase,” Ayotte said. “Families are struggling.”
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