Ben Helfgott was a Holocaust survivor who went on to compete in the Olympics as a weightlifter, then spent his life advocating for and supporting his fellow survivors.
- Died: June 16, 2023 (Who else died on June 16?)
- Details of death: Died in London at the age of 93.
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Ben Helfgott’s legacy
As a boy, Helfgott grew up in the shadow of atrocities. Worried about the looming Nazi threat, his family planned to flee the country, but when his grandmother refused to leave her home, they stayed. In 1939, the Nazis invaded, forcing his family into a ghetto and putting him and his father into a concentration camp.
While both of his parents were killed, Helfgott himself survived until his camp was liberated when he was 15. Left an orphan, he relocated to the United Kingdom, discovered weightlifting, and by the 1950s had become a champion. In fact, he was Great Britain’s lightweight champion three out of four years between 1955 and 1958, competed in the Olympics in 1956 and 1960, and won gold medals at the Maccabiah Games throughout the ‘50s.
After his athletic career ended, Helfgott became an advocate for other survivors, ensuring their stories were told. He championed education about the Holocaust and made numerous media appearances in that capacity. Among many honors for his work, he was knighted in the U.K. in 2018, received the Knight Cross and Commander Cross in Poland in 1994 and 2005, respectively.
Notable quote
“I just had to get on with living.”—from The Guardian, 2018
Tributes to Ben Helfgott
Full obituary: The Jerusalem Post
