Sir Ben Helfgott (born 22 November 1929) is a Polish-born British

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

, Olympian and former champion

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

.Remembering the living dead: 40 years since the Munich murder
/ref> He is one of two Jewish athletes known to have competed in the Olympics after surviving

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, along with Alfred Nakache, a French champion swimmer and water polo player. Helfgott has spent his adult life promoting Holocaust education, meeting with national leaders in the UK to promote cultural integration and peace.

Biography

Helfgott was born in

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by #Etymology, alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the second-largest city situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Previously, it wa ...

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. He was 10 years old when Germany invaded the country in 1939. In 1942, he initially convinced the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s that he was ethnically Polish, and not a Jew. He was eventually sent to a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

. Initially sent to

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

, Helfgott survived

. He was liberated in 1945, but was very weak. He was among 732 orphan refugees under the age of 16 brought to England after the war by CBF World Jewish Relief after being liberated from

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

; he formed a part of the initial 300 arrivals and thus of the group known as ''

The Windermere Children ''The Windermere Children'' is a 2020 biographical drama film written by Simon Block and directed by Michael Samuels. Based on the experience of child survivors of the Holocaust, it follows the children and staff of a camp set up on the Calga ...

'' who were sent to

Troutbeck Bridge Troutbeck Bridge is a village in South Lakeland, Cumbria, England. It is situated north of Windermere on the A591 road running through the Lake District and was historically in the county of Westmorland. The main secondary school for Winder ...

on arrival. He and one of his sisters were the only members of his family to survive the war; his mother and youngest sister were rounded up and shot by the Nazis. There are descriptions of his experiences both during and after the Holocaust in

Martin Gilbert Sir Martin John Gilbert (25 October 1936 – 3 February 2015) was a British historian and honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He was the author of eighty-eight books, including works on Winston Churchill, the 20th century, and Jewish h ...

's book ''The Boys, The Story of 732 Young Concentration Camp Survivors'' about 732 young concentration camp survivors who were sent to the United Kingdom after the war.

Weightlifting career

Helfgott won Great Britain's championship in 1954, and was

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

champion in 1955, 1956, and 1958. He represented Great Britain at weightlifting in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

. He was the captain of the British weightlifting teams at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne and the 1960 Olympics in Rome. In addition, he was a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

winner at the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18–26 July 1958. Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games ...

held in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, South

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Helfgott also won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the lightweight class at the 1950,

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

and 1957 Maccabiah Games.

Media appearances

As a guest on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...

'' programme on 1 April 2007, he chose to be stranded with a copy of

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

's ''

A History of Western Philosophy ''A History of Western Philosophy'' is a 1946 book by the philosopher Bertrand Russell. A survey of Western philosophy from the pre-Socratic philosophers to the early 20th century, it was criticised for Russell's over-generalization and omissio ...

'' and a bar with two discs for weight training. In 2010, Helfgott was one of five

British Jews British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British citizens who identify as Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 2021. History ...

interviewed for an exhibit at the

London Jewish Museum The Jewish Museum London is a museum of British Jewish life, history and identity. The museum is situated in Camden Town in the London Borough of Camden, North London. It is a place for people of all faiths to explore Jewish history, culture, ...

exploring "different ways of being Jewish." In 2018, Helfgott appeared in an edition of the BBC series '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' featuring

Robert Rinder Robert Michael Rinder (; born 31 May 1978) better known as Judge Rinder, is a British criminal barrister and television personality. In 2014, while still a practising barrister, he began hosting the reality courtroom series ''Judge Rinder''. ...

. In the programme, Helfgott recalled how he had encountered Rinder's maternal grandfather, Moszek (Moses, Morris), in the

Schlieben Schlieben ( dsb, Sliwin) is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated north of Bad Liebenwerda. Schlieben was the site of a concentration camp during the Holocaust. History From 1815 to 1944, Schlie ...

concentration camp.

Personal life

Helfgott married Arza in 1966, with whom he then had three sons and nine grandchildren. He had begun a course at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

in 1948 but dropped out after a year and thereafter was partner in a business manufacturing dresses.

Awards, honours and recognition

Poland

United Kingdom

In 2012, at a

Limmud Limmud is a British-Jewish educational charity which, in the UK, produces a large annual winter festival and several other regional events throughout the year on the theme of Jewish learning. Limmud is not affiliated to any strand of Judaism, ...

convention in

Nazareth Illit Nof HaGalil ( he, נוֹף הַגָּלִיל, lit. ''View of Galilee''; ar, نوف هچليل) is a city in the Northern District of Israel with a population of . Nof HaGalil was founded in 1957 as Nazareth Illit ( he, נָצְרַת עִלִ� ...

organized to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian people, Palestinian militant organization Black September Organization, Black September, who i ...

, Helfgott was awarded a prize by the mayor. In 2018, Helfgott was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in recognition of his contribution to services to Holocaust remembrance and education. In October 2020, Helfgott was awarded the Pride of Britain award by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

; the 2020 event was held at the Holocaust Memorial in Hyde Park because of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helfgott, Ben 1929 births Living people People from Pabianice Sportspeople from Łódź Voivodeship 20th-century Polish Jews Jewish weightlifters Polish people of World War II Maccabiah Games medalists in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic weightlifters of Great Britain British male weightlifters Polish male weightlifters Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Weightlifters at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Great Britain Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors Knights of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Competitors at the 1950 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1953 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1957 Maccabiah Games Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Knights Bachelor Members of the Order of the British Empire Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games