‘Hero’ is an overused word in sport but it’s an understatement when it comes to Sir Ben Helfgott.
As a Holocaust survivor, two-time Olympian and indefatigable campaigner, his was a life without parallel.
Having endured horrors unimaginable, Helfgott was a ‘walking skeleton’ on liberation from the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1945.
Nine years later he was a British weightlifting champion and within 11 years, a strapping member of Team GB at the 1956 Olympics.
One of the most remarkable Olympians, Helfgott was born in Piotrkow, a town in Poland 26 miles away from Lodz.
He grew up in a happy home but one that was soon gripped by fear at the precarious position of Jews in Poland as the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany.
Helfgott was nine years old when Hitler invaded Poland and when returning from a family holiday, he watched bombs rain down on his hometown, killing about 1,000 people.
After an aborted attempt to flee, in October 1939 all Jews in Piotrkow were ordered to move into a ghetto, the first of its kind established by the Nazis.
Transportations to the Treblinka extermination camp began in 1942.
Helfgott was saved from certain death when a man named Janota, who was in charge of his work unit, lied to the SS that Helgfott was not a Jew.
He was then moved to concentration camps at Buchenwald, Schlieben and Theresienstadt with the latter liberated in April 1945.
Helfgott found that his father had been shot a few days before the end of the war, making him an orphan with his mother having been killed in late 1942.
The Holocaust Educational Trust is deeply saddened to learn of the loss of our dear friend, mentor and honorary patron Holocaust survivor Sir Ben Helfgott MBE 1929-2023. pic.twitter.com/rzfUPGfSMG
— H.E.T. (@HolocaustUK) June 16, 2023
At that stage, he was offered the chance to go to England as one of 700 orphans who would become known as the Windemere Children.
Settling in Essex, he enjoyed sporting activities at Plaistow Grammar School.
One summer’s day aged 18, when swimming on Hampstead Heath, he found a group of people lifting weights and decided to have a go.
Lifting 180lbs comfortably at the first attempt, he was clearly a natural and began to train seriously.
Helfgott won four British titles and made his Olympic debut at the 1956 Games in Melbourne, going on to win a Commonwealth medal in 1958 and return to the Olympic stage in 1960.
In 1963 he founded the 45 Aid Society, supporting Holocaust survivors, and became the UK’s leading voice in Holocaust education.
He was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2018.
He is survived by wife Arza, sister Mala and sons Maurice, Michael and Nathan.
British Olympic Association Chair, Sir Hugh Robertson said: "Sir Ben Helfgott represented the very best of humanity. A kind, gentle man who endured the unimaginable during the Holocaust, yet used all of his courage to educate countless generations of young people about tolerance and peace.
“The fact he survived the concentration camps to go on to represent Great Britain at the Olympic Games tells you all you need to know about his determination and character. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time. We will not let his memory nor his legacy fade."
Sportsbeat 2023