By ELVA RAMIREZ and JONATHAN LEMIRE

A Holocaust survivor was struck and killed by a van yesterday after he collapsed in the street as he went to collect alms for the poor.

Arron Montal, 88, a Hasidic Jew, appeared to clutch his chest as he lost his balance and fell into the path of the oncoming white vehicle on Nostrand Ave. in Midwood just before 7 a.m., police said.

"He was a very honorable person and a religious person," said Liebel Montal, one of the victim's eight grown children. "It was a shock to all of us."

Montal, who fled Warsaw after World War II, had lived in Borough Park for decades. In recent years, he spent every Friday morning collecting money at local temples to pass on to the less fortunate, his family said.

He was crossing Avenue L to reach the Agudas Yisroel Bais Binyomin temple yesterday when he was struck by a commercial van, police said. Bouncing off the hood - and leaving a small dent - Montal was knocked more than 10 feet down the street and hit his head on the pavement.

Witnesses and the van's driver, who stayed on the scene, told investigators that Montal stumbled into his path. The driver was not charged with any wrongdoing.

Hatzoloh paramedics worshiping at the temple rushed Montal to Kings County Hospital, but he died 90 minutes later.

"In the middle of prayer, they heard 'Nostrand and L' [on their radios] and they ran out," said Ike Dachs, the temple building manager. "In a second, they had 10 EMTs on him, but it didn't help."

Montal, who according to religious tradition was buried before sundown yesterday, was remembered by stunned neighbors as a generous man.

"It's going to be a very big loss for the block that he passed away," said neighbor Avrum Rubin, 35. "He was a really special, special man."