Ben arrived in Britain in August 1945 aged 15, one of 732 young Holocaust survivors brought to Britain from concentration camps for rehabilitation. Ben stayed in Britain, despite his original intention of moving to Palestine. He is committed to ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust are passed on.
Ben was born into a middle class Jewish family in the town of Piotrków Trybunalski in Poland. The oldest of three children, Ben describes his upbringing as ‘happy and loving’.
‘…It is time that the Jews have not just their own identity [as] Jews but are the creators… [of] their own destiny.’
After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 the Nazis forced Jewish people to live in ghettos. Ben’s family was no exception. His mother and sister Lusia were shot in a mass execution before Ben and his father were forced into successive concentration camps. In 1944 they arrived at Buchenwald. There they were separated and never saw each other again. Ben’s father was shot a few days before the end of the war, when he tried to escape from the death marches. Ben was in Theresienstadt camp when he was liberated at the end of the war.
He wanted to live in Palestine, which many Jews saw as their rightful homeland.
But Ben’s future took a different path. He was found by the Central British Fund, which was searching Europe for child Holocaust survivors to bring to Britain for rehabilitation. The Home Office gave permission for one thousand children to be brought to Britain but only 732 children were found. They became known as ‘The Boys’ (despite some being girls).
Ben described arriving in Britain as like ‘coming to a different planet’. His time in Windermere, Cumbria was ‘idyllic’ and ‘carefree.’ He did not feel homesick for Poland, but he felt ‘nostalgic’, especially during Jewish festivals, for his family and friends whom he had lost.
Ben’s sister Mala also survived the Holocaust. She arrived in Britain in March 1947 and settled here permanently.
Ben still lives in Britain and leads a very full life. He was the British weightlifting champion between 1954 and 1960. He represented Britain in two Olympic and Commonwealth games.
He is deeply involved in community work with both Jews and non-Jews. Ben is still close to ‘The Boys’ and is instrumental in bringing national attention to their stories and other Holocaust accounts. He is committed to ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust are passed on to younger generations.
Ben has never felt bitter about his experiences and he believes that; ‘we only have one life and we should do everything that is humanly possible to live in harmony with people of other nationalities, race and creed.’
View Images
Listen