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Before being KISS’s frontman, Gene Simmons was Chaim Weitz—the son of Holocaust survivor Flóra Klein. This is the story of her courage, sacrifice, and their journey from Auschwitz to arena rock.
Some stories are so improbable, they almost defy belief. A teenage girl in Hungary loses her entire family in Auschwitz, endures slave labor, and somehow survives. She builds a new life out of the ashes, immigrates with her only child to America, and raises him as a single mother in Queens. That boy, once a lonely immigrant struggling with English, would one day breathe fire, spit blood, and command stadiums of screaming fans as one of the most recognizable rock stars in the world.
Gene and his mother Flóra
This is the astonishing story of Flóra Klein—Holocaust survivor, single mother, and the quiet force behind Gene Simmons, co-founder of the legendary band KISS.
Flóra Klein was born in 1925 in the small Hungarian village of Jánd. She grew up in a traditional Jewish home in the vibrant Jewish world of Hungary. But by her teenage years, that world was collapsing.
After Nazi Germany occupied Hungary in 1944, Jewish life changed overnight. Living in Budapest, Flóra was forced to wear the yellow star, restricted by curfews and regulations. “I was not allowed to leave my apartment without this badge for Jews,” she later recalled. The laws were humiliating, but far worse was coming.
Her father and brother were deported first, sent to forced labor camps. They never returned. Soon after, Flóra and her mother were rounded up, herded onto cattle cars, and sent east. The journey ended at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
When the doors opened, they were met by snarling dogs and guards barking orders. A Nazi officer gestured with a flick of his hand—left or right. Life or death. Flóra’s mother was sent to the gas chambers. Fourteen-year-old Flóra was directed to forced labor.
At Auschwitz, Flóra’s job was to sort through the belongings of Jews who had been killed. She handled wedding rings, shoes, children’s toys, heartbreaking remnants of lives cut short.
She endured typhus, malnutrition, and bitter winters with almost no clothing. When she was later transferred to Ravensbrück, another notorious camp, she had already witnessed enough horror for a lifetime. But she pressed on.
On May 5, 1945, U.S. soldiers of the 11th Armored Division liberated Ravensbrück. Flóra weighed barely 70 pounds. She was just 19.
The war had stolen her family and her childhood but not her will to live.
After the war, Flóra spent time in a displaced persons camp before immigrating to the new State of Israel. In 1946 she married Ferenc “Feri” Weitz, another survivor who worked as a carpenter. Three years later, in 1949, their son Chaim was born in Haifa.
Life in Israel was far from easy. The country was poor, and Flóra’s marriage became troubled. Her husband struggled to earn a living, and the marriage turned violent. One day, when young Chaim saw his father strike his mother, he bit his father on the knee to protect her. Eventually, Ferenc left for good.
Flóra was now a single mother, raising her boy alone. She worked in a coffee shop, scraped by on little money, and clung to small joys—like watching movies on outdoor screens with her son. Cowboy films became their escape, and for Chaim, his first glimpse of America.
Chaim was a bright, curious boy, though often lonely. He had battled polio as a toddler, spending time in isolation. He developed odd hobbies, such as catching giant beetles and tying strings to them so they could fly like tiny kites. But beneath the eccentricities, he was already showing signs of the showman he would one day become.
His mother almost never spoke about her wartime past. To Chaim, her message was simple: the world contains both good and bad people. Choose wisely.
By age eight, Flóra made a bold decision. With relatives in America willing to help, she took her son to New York. Neither spoke English. They settled in Jackson Heights, Queens, in 1958.
Flóra found work in a garment factory. The pay was pitiful: half a penny per buttonhole, thousands of coats a day. But she kept going. Her son was everything.
In America, Chaim reinvented himself. He took his mother’s maiden name, Klein, and chose “Gene” as a first name that sounded American.
Everything about America dazzled him—supermarkets filled with endless food, televisions that brought entire worlds into the living room, even Santa Claus billboards (which he mistook for a Russian rabbi). He immersed himself in comic books, monster movies, doo-wop music, and the thrilling new sound of rock & roll.
Watching The Ed Sullivan Show, he saw young singers mobbed by screaming girls. Then came the Beatles’ U.S. debut in 1964. “In a flash, I understood everything,” he said. Music could change the world—and win the attention of adoring fans.
Gene decided: he would start a band.
Flóra supported his dreams, but with conditions. “You can pursue music,” she told him, “but you must get an education first. Have something to fall back on.”
Her expectations guided him. “My mother’s approval was always extremely important,” Gene later admitted. “I never drank, never smoked, never got high. She had suffered enough—I didn’t have the right to break her heart.”
Her resilience, her sacrifices, and her unspoken history became the foundation upon which Gene built his own larger-than-life persona.
By the early 1970s, Gene Simmons co-founded KISS, a band unlike anything audiences had ever seen. With outrageous costumes, face paint, pyrotechnics, and performances that included blood-spitting and fire-breathing, KISS redefined rock theater.
Flóra, the quiet woman who had survived Auschwitz, now watched as her son conquered arenas. KISS went on to sell over 100 million albums worldwide, earning more Gold records than any American band in history.
And yet, despite his fame, Gene remained anchored by his mother. She appeared often on his reality show Family Jewels, beloved by fans for her thick Hungarian accent and obvious devotion to her son.
When Flóra passed away in December 2018 at age 93, Gene called her “the best mother in the world, my mentor, my moral compass.”
Even late in life, new revelations about her survival emerged. In 2020, Gene received archives from Germany—concentration camp records, Red Cross documents, liberation papers—that filled in details his mother had never shared. Confronting them, he wept. “I knew almost nothing,” he admitted.
Accepting the Legacy Award from Yad Vashem in 2017 on her behalf, Gene gave a stark warning: “The Holocaust happened yesterday. Hate speech against any group is a threat to you. We are all somebody’s ‘them.’”
In interviews, he recalled the story of his grandmother and great-grandmother, who went to the gas chambers together. His grandmother told his mother in Hungarian: “Live and survive.” It became the family’s creed.
His Hebrew name, Chaim—Life—was no accident. “Every day above ground is good,” Flóra always told him.
Flóra Klein’s life was not only about survival. It was about resilience, sacrifice, and faith in the next generation. Every time Gene Simmons breathes fire on stage, it carries the legacy of his mother—a woman who endured the unendurable, rebuilt her life, and proved that from the ashes of destruction can rise a legacy of life, love, and unshakable strength.
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Once a Jew, always a Jew. Loved the story.
glad you appreciated it, Noelene.
What is wrong about a mother's survival and bringing up a son who became a musician who did not drink, smoke or do drugs. The Holocaust was a horrible time in the world. 6 million lives were murdered. We always say NEVER FORGET.
The story is good. The graphics are not.
The graphics of the shoa are far worse! They were lived & imprinted in my dad's body & soul. What a little make up & theatrics can offend really? Our campases & streets, halls of law order & justice are full of ripe for repeating horrors LIFE IS WHAT IT IS! Why should it be repleat with sensorship?
What a wonderful story that made me cry. He had a hard life. His mother was so lucky to survive. The holocaust she is amazing. Thank you for such a lovely story.
Josephine, thank you so much for taking the time to read the piece about Flora Klein. I'm so glad it touched you.
Excellent article. Gene Simmons, and his mom, should be an inspiration to all up and coming musicians
Thanks, Mark
My husband (z"l) briefly worked security for a record company and met Mr. Simmons. I remember him telling me that he was the sweetest, most cordial person he'd met, not like many of the performers that the record company had. When Mr. Simmons found out that my husband was Jewish, there was an instant connection. Learning about his mother, one can see where he got his consideration from.
BTW, this was well before their identities were made known. I wish I had had the opportunity to meet him,also
Great insight! Thanks for that comment, Deena.
This is a very special story to read. As I grew up I was shocked of Kiss appearance and believed the two SS of Kiss were related to the SS of the Nazi-Germans. We were convinced he was an evil person. Meanwhile he was a treasure, hidden in his appearance. A star.
Great feedback, Daw. Glad you enjoyed the article.
Dan, wonderful article. Fan of KISS back in the day. One small correction. If Flóra was born in 1925, and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, then she would have been nineteen years old, not fourteen years old. I checked some information on the Internet, and found an article where Gene Simmons said that she was fourteen, but that would have meant that she was sent to the camp in 1939, well before Germany invaded Hungary.
Thanks Jeffrey. The chronology and timelines (even in Gene's book) were somewhat contradictory.
What a fabulous article! Kiss is probably my all time favorite band. I’m 61 and remember seeing their concert advertised on tv in about 1974-75. It was shocking! lol. Little did I know then, but in a few years I would be a huge fan. I never knew this about Gene’s mother. What an amazing woman. I knew he had said he didn’t drink or do drugs, but I didn’t know the reason. Thank you so much for writing this article. It has touched my heart deeply.
Thank you so much for your very kind words.
This family is resilient and courageous.
A very heroic story of how one can pivot and bring out the best in oneself with the love of a mother.
Yes, the family's story and perseverance is inspirational
That his mother survived the concentration camps ....I only know Hashem enabled her survival.
Mr. Simmons is the child of a survivor and has had to deal with untold challenges due to this. Challenges we cannot imagine that are not described in this article.
I will note that his group remained anonymous, behind the makeup, for 10 years of the height of their carrier. Their identities were not revealed until September 18, 1983, on MTV.
Following that, in the mid-1990's they began their path back to the full make-up.
Folks we have had all sorts of people written about on this website-people who have lived all sorts of lives. We are not put on earth by Hashem to question Mr. Simmons choices. That is between him and Hashem. During Elul we need to be mindful of our own life's choices.
Renee, thank you for your eloquent perspective on the article and your broader analysis of the related issue of judgements and choices.
How sad to hear, who is a son of a Holocaust Survivor, that is the nachos for coimg to America , he married a non Jewish woman
A wonderful article that sheds light on strength of family and love. I was always a KISS fan and now more so a fan of Gene Simmons. Throughly enjoyed the read.
Thank you, Philip, this was an amazing and inspirational piece to research