Tributes have been paid to a Holocaust survivor who tirelessly campaigned for greater awareness of the genocide and represented Britain at the Olympics.
Sir Ben Helfgott, 93, survived Buchenwald concentration camp and was one of 732 child survivors who came to the UK to rebuild their lives, known as The Boys.
Just eleven years after being liberated from Nazi concentration camps, Sir Ben captained the British weightlifting team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and also represented Britain in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
He settled down in north-west London and is remembered as a major “driving force” behind Holocaust remembrance in the UK.
Karen Pollock, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said Sir Ben was a “giant amongst men”.
“Despite all he endured, Ben taught us all about resilience, tolerance and the crucial importance of educating future generations,” she said.
“He was our friend and mentor and we mourn his loss deeply.”
Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi, said Sir Ben was “one of the most inspirational people I have known.”
“He was a charismatic and passionate leader, who promoted the values of compassion, understanding, love and peaceful coexistence,” he said.
“His own horrific experiences inspired him to work tirelessly for a more peaceful and unified world and he inspired us to do likewise.”
Sir Ben’s family were forced to leave their home and live in the Piotrkow Ghetto when the Nazis occupied Poland in 1939.
In October 1942, when Sir Ben was 12, the Nazis sent 22,000 of the Ghetto’s 24,000 inhabitants to death camps in the east.
Sir Ben’s younger sister and mother were murdered. Sir Ben was sent to Buchenwald in 1944, while his other sister Mala was sent to Ravensbruck.
Sir Ben was separated from his father in Buchenwald and later discovered that only days from the end of the war, his father had been shot dead as he tried to escape from a death march leaving the camp.
After arriving in the UK, he was able to find his sister Mala via the Red Cross, and they reunited.
He is survived by his wife Arza, and their three sons. His sister Mala also survives him.
