Gene Simmons said he was “heartbroken” after the death of his mother, Flora Klein, who passed away aged 93.

In an emotional Instagram post, the Kiss icon shared a picture of the pair together when he was a boy, and explained how much she’d meant to him.

“I lost my Mother. My mentor. My moral compass. And I am heartbroken,” Simmons wrote. “My Mother, Flora Kelin, passed away at 93 years of age. No illness. No pain. She simply went quietly, went to sleep. My Mother will always be in my thoughts and in my heart. Today. And Forever.” He continued, “And I would urge all of you, to run over, put your arms around your mother, kiss her and tell her how much you love her. Do this every day!”

Simmons’s wife, Shannon Tweed, described Klein as “The best grandma and mother in law I could ask for,” adding, “You were loved and you will be missed.” Kiss frontman Paul Stanley said, “I knew her as long as I've known Gene. Beyond her fierce love and pride in her only child, she was his inspiration to live up to being worthy of the sacrifices she made in a very difficult and, at time, horrific life. A holocaust survivor, she fought for all she had, and her fierce protection and pride in Gene made her someone to be feared, admired and loved. I will miss her laugh and smile. Let us all say a prayer for her, Gene and his family.”

In 2016 Simmons spoke of how Klein had escaped the Holocaust of the Jews during the Second World War. “I did my own research and found out just now terrible it was,” he said. “I’ve tried to talk about it, but she just won’t do it. She saw her mother walk into the gas chambers. Her whole family was destroyed. My mother was the only one left alive. And she was 14.” The previous year, Klein said she could “never unlock that door and bring up those memories” because she would “go crazy and never come back.”

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