Six of ‘The Boys’, alongside 250 of their relatives and the descendants of those who have since died, gathered on Sunday morning in front of the Jan Hus memorial in Old Town Square.

One of ‘The Boys’ Sir Ben Helfgott, 89, described feeling “overwhelmed with emotion” as the picture was taken, while among those in the picture was celebrity TV Judge Robert Rinder, whose maternal grandfather was one of  ‘The Boys’.

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Helfgott’s younger sister, Mala Tribich, who joined Ben for the photograph, said: “I was feeling sad thinking about all the survivors we have lost and what it would have meant for them to experience the reunion.

“But I also feel positive and upbeat,” she added. “Today represented survival: the survival of the next generation and all the generations that have come since.”

Following the Second World War, 732 surviving children were flown from Prague by the RAF to the Lake District to start new lives. They became known as ‘The Boys’, later forming the 45 Aid Society to raise money for survivors and teach the lessons of the Holocaust.

James Gordon, 19, whose grandfather Monty Graham was just 15 in August 1945, said: “Sadly we are probably the last generation who will meet these Holocaust survivors and so it falls onto our shoulders to carry on their stories. We are stood here today to secure their legacy.”

Photo of survivors from 1945

His mother Helen, daughter of Monty, added: “I’ve studied that iconic photo from 1945 ever since I was a child- it’s something I’ve grown up with as part of my heritage. It’s so special to be here and I hope we can spread these stories to ensure the atrocities of the Holocaust are never repeated.”

As well as recreating the iconic photograph, the group experienced a collective Friday night dinner in the Jewish Quarter and visited the Theresienstadt Ghetto, where they partook in a memorial service.

Recreated photo from 2019

Last Monday, Sajid Javid addressed the 45 Aid Society’s annual reunion dinner and recalled bringing his family to hear the story of one of ‘The Boys’, Harry Spiro.

The 16 survivors in attendance were also reunited with the serviceman who flew many of them to Britain in an RAF Sterling bomber.

Zigi Shipper, my grandfather, died exactly a year ago on his 93rd birthday. His passing was marked by the Prime Minister, the King and the Chief Rabbi.  The latter went so far as to speak at his stone setting last month and one thing we can be certain of is that Zigi would have loved all the attention. Although I suspect he could have lived without the whole dying thing.

Zigi loved life more than any other human being I’ve met despite, or perhaps because of, enduring Auschwitz. He found magic in the mundane from a prosaic bus ride to a simple dinner. Indeed, he once told me eating food with cutlery was like making love through an interpreter. When out in public, he wanted to engage and converse and, above all else, make people laugh.

He came to this country with little more than the shirt on his back and was mourned in the Commons on his final departure but status did not interest Zigi. He afforded the man on the street the same respect he showed the woman in the crown. The boy from Łódź never forgot where he came from or what he’d been through. He was passionate about feeding those in need because of the trauma of his youth. He would remind us often enough that it felt like a mantra: “I know what it is to be hungry.”

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After the death of my grandmother in the summer of 2020, Zigi shifted back into endurance mode. If one saw him at a funeral in Bushey in his 90s and asked how he was, he would invariably point to the ground and say, “Well, I’m not down there yet so I can’t be doing too badly.” For my grandfather, after all he’d been through, living was enough.

The late Zigi Shipper with his granddaughter Emma Harrod. Pic: Darren Richman

The last time I saw my grandfather, he could no longer speak. Having said goodbye in every sense of the word, I bent down and embraced my hero on his deathbed.

As I went to leave, it was clear Zigi knew as well as I did that this was our final encounter and, using what little strength he had, held tightly onto my hand to keep me in the room for as long as possible. It dawned on me, in the dark of the afternoon, that he was scared. It was the first and last time I ever saw the man truly fearful.

Zigi died at home, at the age of 93, surrounded by his children. I think most of us would be happy with that, without even factoring in a lifetime involving concentration camps and heart attacks. It bothered me, therefore, that he was clearly worried and his final night was spent in a manner that suggested deep distress. Perhaps dying peacefully in your sleep is a newspaper euphemism or maybe it only applies to other people.

Credit: Adam Soller

In the year since his death, I believe I have come to understand that fear. Zigi didn’t just love life, he understood its value as well as anyone in recorded history. The American songwriter Warren Zevon, confronted with his own imminent demise, claimed he now understood how important it was to “enjoy every sandwich” and the same was true of my grandfather. He savoured every football match, every glass of whiskey, every phone call with a friend. He was the living embodiment of the Jewish toast, l’chaim. My grandfather’s entire modus operandi could be summed up in the words, “To life!” It is little wonder he fought against death to the very last.

It was recently pointed out to me that Zigi was born on the 18th, died on the 18th and, if the digits are taken individually, his Auschwitz number 84303 adds up to 18. The number 18 in Judaism, chai, means life. It is considered good luck and is probably the most significant numerical value for Jews. It was, in fact, our good fortune to have had all those years with him and, to quote the American writer and director Robert B. Weide, “For those who never knew him, I’m sorry for your loss.”

ByEmma PryerFreelancer
20:57, 20 Jan 2024
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BOOKMARK
It was nearly 80 years ago but Joanna Millan remembers being terrified by the deafening noise of the engines as the RAF airlifted her to freedom aged three.

She and her five brothers and sisters, all aged three and four, were among over 300 Jewish orphans flown to the Lake District in converted Stirling bombers at the end of the Second World War.

The emaciated survivors of Nazi death camps in eastern Europe were given new lives and dubbed the Windermere Children – the title of a 2020 BBC film about their story.

Joanna, 81, says: “I only have flashes of memory but we weren’t told where we were going. Our understanding was that if you left the camp it was bad news – nobody ever came back.”

Keith Black, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council said “The Coronation will be a magnificent day in British history that we will all share with so much pleasure. We at the Jewish Leadership Council wish His Majesty King Charles, mazaltov on his elevation to the throne. God save the King.”

Marie Van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies said: “As an organisation which was founded to pay tribute to King George III on his accession, the Board of Deputies is delighted to wish King Charles III many congratulations on the occasion of his Coronation. May his reign be a long, successful and happy one, as was that of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth before him.”

The United Synagogue’s president, Michael Goldstein pointed out that since the US’s foundation in 1870 one constant factor has been the recital every week in US synagogues of the Prayer for the Royal Family. “We send our very best wishes to His Majesty the King on his Coronation and know that he will continue to ensure the UK remains a “malchut shel chesed” (a kingdom of kindness) for the Jewish community and all British citizens”.

A spokesman for Masorti Judaism said: “Masorti Judaism would like to congratulate King Charles on his coronation. King Charles has always been a good friend to the Jewish community. We know that he will inspire our country to deepen our commitment to social action, care for the environment, and the modern values that Masorti Judaism shares”.

Movement for Reform Judaism CEO Rabbi Josh Levy, and Liberal Judaism CEO Rabbi Charley Baginsky, now working together issued joint congratulations: “On behalf of the rabbis of Reform and Liberal Judaism, our members, and leadership, we want to send our very best wishes to His Majesty, King Charles and all the Royal family on this very special and historic occasion. King Charles has always expressed his support for the central place of faith in the United Kingdom. We look forward to his continued raising up of diverse voices and hope to play our part in continuing to represent the commitment of the Jewish community to the realm”.

Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Education Trust said: “His Majesty, along with other members of the Royal Family, has demonstrated time and again his enduring friendship to our community, his deep affection for our Holocaust survivors and their families, and his unstinting commitment to ensure the continued legacy of the Holocaust — we could not be more grateful. King Charles knows the joy and life that our brave survivors bring, having recently joined them in a pre-Chanukah hora! We thank him for his continued service and dedication to our nation and wish him mazeltov on this historic day.”

Angela Cohen, chairman of the 45 Aid society said that King Charles’ star shines very brightly within the Holocaust survivors charity, the ’45 Aid Society.”His late mother respected and had so much time for the Boys and we know that he will do the same for future generations. Kol Hakavod, King Charles, on your coronation!” y

The Association of Jewish Refugees said:“On behalf of all our members, the AJR wishes to extend to King Charles III our sincere congratulations on the occasion of his Coronation. As the national organisation representing and supporting Holocaust refugees and survivors, we are immensely grateful to His Majesty for his longstanding dedication to remembrance of the Holocaust as well as the personal interest he has shown in the lives of the many refugees and survivors he’s met over the years, at AJR events and beyond”.

Jewish Care said:“Our life president, president, honorary presidents, chairman, trustees, staff and volunteers wish His Majesty King Charles III, Her Majesty Queen Camilla, and the entire Royal Family a hearty mazaltov on the occasion of the Coronation. We are delighted to celebrate this wonderful event across our resources and services together with our residents, tenants, members and clients and gladly share this joyous time with so many across the community and the country”.

And Naomi Dickson, chief executive of Norwood said “On behalf of Norwood’s Trustees, staff, the people we support and our volunteers, we would like to wish a long and happy reign to His Majesty King Charles III on the occasion of his coronation. May the Almighty grant him good health, happiness and wisdom and we wish him every success in leading our nation.” Naomi Dickson, chief executive of Norwood.”

World Jewish Relief paid tribute to the King’s work as a “committed and actively engaged patron.” “His Majesty first approached WJR in 2002 when, inspired by a visit to Krakow’s Jewish community, he encouraged us to fund, build and establish the outstanding Jewish Community Centre in the city. Last April WJR welcomed His Majesty to our offices in North London where, at his request, we learned about the impact of our humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine and met some of the individuals we have assisted. This February His Majesty sent his Principal Private Secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, to address guests at our annual dinner, sharing a personal message praising “the tremendous example set by World Jewish Relief over the last 90 years” to those “both in the Jewish community and beyond”.

Wishing the King and Queen a hearty mazel tov, the charity expressed appreciation for”His Majesty’s conviction in the value of our global work, and his unwavering commitment to actively supporting us, is highly motivating and inspiring to our team, trustees and global partners as we continue our lifesaving work during challenging periods of conflict and disaster.”

Mark Gardner, chief executive of the Community Security Trust said that the King’s visit to CST headquarters in December was “the career highlight for many CST staff and volunteers. He showed genuine understanding and concern for our work tackling antisemitism and his support and affection for the Jewish community shone through. His coronation will be a momentous occasion and everyone at CST wishes him a long, happy and peaceful reign.”

JW3 also sent congratulations. “When he visited us in December 2022 the reaction from all the visitors, food bank volunteers and Holocaust survivors who met him showed just how much he is appreciated throughout the community. We look forward to seeing the good work that he does continue for a long time to come”.

The National Jewish Assembly (NJA) extended its heartfelt congratulations to King Charles III on his upcoming coronation. “We are delighted to witness this historic moment, as the King ascends to the throne and begins a new era of leadership.”

As members of the Jewish community, we are particularly grateful for the King’s longstanding commitment to interfaith dialogue and his support for religious freedom. His dedication to promoting understanding and tolerance among different faiths is a testament to his character and his commitment to creating a better world for all”.

The JNF said: “On this historic occasion of King Charles’s coronation, JNF UK celebrate the start of a new era for the British monarchy. We pay tribute to his unwavering commitment to public service, his dedication to charitable causes, and his steadfast devotion to the people of the United Kingdom”.

And the Jewish Museum London also congratulated the King, “His Majesty has been patron of the Jewish Museum London since 2008 when we became His Majesty’s first patronage of a Jewish community organisation with a remit in the United Kingdom. This long-standing relationship reflects King Charles’s deep commitment to promoting and preserving British Jewish heritage and the Jewish faith.”

They let out shouts of joy as they recognised each other and caught up on lost time. The young man described how lonely he felt and in turn, his friend told him about a special club he belonged to and encouraged him to visit.

This 18-year-old had been through the unimaginable: the Lodz Ghetto, the notorious Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, Stutthof concentration camp and later, a death march before his liberation. He had come to England to join his mother, who he thought had died years earlier.

After the chance reunion with his wartime friend, this young man decided to visit this “special club”. It proved to be a significant moment – he was welcomed with open arms into the Primrose Club. This man was Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipper and as Zigi used to say, this was where he found his family and this moment represented a homecoming.

The Primrose Club was made up of fellow Holocaust survivors, people with whom he never had to put on a brave face; people who always understood. And there, he met someone else – a young woman called Jeannette, who would go on to become Zigi’s wife of 65 years.

The Primrose Club was founded on the ashes of the Holocaust. It was started by the Boys – a group of child orphans who survived the unimaginable horrors of Nazi Europe and who had come to the UK to rebuild their lives, first arriving in beautiful Windermere. They learnt English, upported each other through life’s ups and downs and they created a new family, more connected than any I have ever known. At the centre of this family was the indomitable Sir Ben Helfgott – Holocaust survivor, Olympic champion and founding member of what would become the ‘45 Aid Society.

This was established by members of the Primrose Club and ensured Holocaust survivors in the UK had the support they needed. In later years, it has given generously to numerous other causes. Built with the determination and vision of Sir Ben, its chairman for over 50 years, its work continues today. It’s now led by the next generation with the incredible Angela Cohen, whose father Moishe Malenicky was one of the Boys, at the helm.

Every year, the society holds a special reunion around the anniversary of the Boys’ liberation. Survivors, their children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren eat, drink and celebrate. These are the most joyful, life affirming people to be around – the minute the band plays everyone is on the dance floor. There is no holding back. And this year was no exception. The Chief Rabbi gave a hugely powerful tribute to the courage and humanity of the survivors. The survivors who were there barely stopped smiling.

Amongst the joy, we couldn’t help but be reminded of the sorrow; all that the survivors had to endure to be part of this exclusive club that no one would want to join; and the absence of those who had been such a part of the ‘45 Aid Society.

But despite the sorrow, I take comfort in knowing that their legacy is secure. Whether in their sons and daughters sharing their parents’ stories, or in the toddlers in the centre of the dance floor, the Boys and the family they have created will endure for generations to come.

Karen Pollock is chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust

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You never knew when they might be needed. Even then he was politically savvy, reading newspapers and watching films way beyond his years.

Most of all he loved sport. He was blond and small, an agile livewire who won every game. He was also protective and thoughtful.

Ben was born into a comfortable Polish Jewish family, the son of Sarah and Moshe, who owned a flour mill. He had two sisters, Mala and Lusia. They lived in Piotrkow, a small town with a sizeable Jewish population, close to their extended family of 23 cousins.

But in 1939 bad things were beginning to happen in Piotrkow. The intuitive ten-year-old sensed the Nazis, smelled them in the air even before they moved in with their stentorian shouts, their bombs, their guns, their killing machines. The reign of terror had begun. He and his mother and sisters were visiting his grandparents when they heard the bombing.

Returning home via the village of Sulejow, Ben saw wooden houses with thatched roofs set alight. People were running, screaming, some on fire. Low-flying planes starting shooting. The cries for help, the wounded lying on the ground, corpses, body parts everywhere. Things no child should see, let alone live through. And Ben would remember them in every detail for the rest of his 93 years, their terrible screams: “Help us! Help us!”

In March 1942 more than 24,000 Jews from Piotrkow were shunted into a ghetto, forced to surrender their valuables and businesses.

Safety was assured for anyone helping the Germans in the war effort, and the 12-year-old joined his father in a local glass factory. But in October came the deportations; 22,000 people were sent from the ghetto to the gas chambers at Treblinka.

In December Sara and eight-year-old Lusia were shot in a nearby forest, after being rounded up with others in a synagogue.

In November 1944, Moshe and Ben were deported to Buchenwald and Mala to Ravensbrück. Moshe was shot trying to escape a death march to Theresienstadt — where Ben, now completely alone cried for days for his lost family.

Liberated by Czech partisans in May 1945, he became one of the 735 young survivors known as “The Boys” (including 40 girls) who were brought to Windermere by the Central British Fund. Good news came; he was reunited with Mala in 1947.

The pacific lakeside beauty of Windermere, immortalised by Wordsworth and Coleridge, helped him regain something of his shattered childhood. He described the place as being “like heaven”. He could study and engage in his favourite sports.

In years to come Ben returned several times to Piotrkow. It was a place of pilgrimage that he found little had changed, at least physically. It was as though the voices of his murdered family and childhood playmates were erased, leaving a blank screen. But inside him they would continue to hum.

They would forever link him to the fragile fraternity of Holocaust survivors in their fight against race hate. But joy would fill his life too. He became a leading fashion manufacturer and Olympic weightlifter.

He married Arza, a pharmacist from former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, in 1966 and they had three sons, Maurice, Michael and Nathan.

Eleven years after being liberated from Nazi concentration camps, Ben captained the British weightlifting team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and won bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in 1958.

He represented Britain in the 1960 Rome Olympics. “Whenever I pulled on that GB vest I wanted to do well,” he recalled. “I so wanted to win a medal to say thank you to the country that saved me.” He won gold at the World Maccabiah Games representing Britain in Israel in 1950, 1953 and 1957.

And yet, even in athletic triumph, the past came back to haunt him in a most hideous way. He was officiating at the 1972 Munich Olympics when 11 Israeli athletes and coaches — including the entire weightlifting team — fell victim to Black September terrorists who held them captive, in a failed rescue attempt by German police. Ben was probably the last person to see them alive.

His determination to eradicate antisemitism led to his true crusade, in Holocaust education. It was with “The Boys” that he became founder-chair of the ‘45 Aid Society in 1963 until 2016, when he became president.

The need to stay close to his young fellow victims, some of whom had scattered, was answered in the establishment of the Primrose Club in London’s Belsize Park.

Ben also chaired the Board of Deputies’ Yad Vashem Committee from 1985 to 2005, and was a patron of the Holocaust Education Trust. In 1995 he was elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Appointed MBE in 2000 and knighted in 2018, he alluded to his memories on Desert Island Discs in 2007, when he said: “We can’t bring them back. Their memory has to stay alive, not just for them but for posterity.”

He was on the executive of the Wiener Library, chair of the Polin Institute for Polish Jewish Studies. In his eighties he became vice-chair of the Claims Conference that has recovered billions of dollars for Holocaust victims.

Yet endowed with a rare largesse of spirit, he showed no hatred or desire for vengeance against those he once blamed for having “made animals of us”. He favoured reconciliation with Germany and Poland and received awards from both countries.

He won Poland’s Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit for Holocaust education work and for Polish-Jewish relations. To so many this modest man, small in stature, was “a giant among men” as Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Education Trust, described him.

“Despite all he endured, Ben taught us all about resilience, tolerance and the crucial importance of educating future generations,” she said.

Angela Cohen, chair of the ‘45 Aid Society, said: “My relationship with Ben started when I worked with him on the ‘45 Aid Society Journal around 17 or 18 years ago.

He came from the same town in Poland as my father, Moishe Malenicky and he told me my father’s story, as my father felt unable to talk about his experiences.

Over the years, Ben and I became close and it was because of his encouragement and love that I subsequently took over as chair of the ‘45 Aid Society.

I learned over the years that Ben was incredibly intuitive and instantly connected with all types of people, regardless of whether they were royalty, politicians or just people on the street — he saw everyone as equal. Ben was my mentor and I hope I can live up to his belief in me.”

Ben is survived by his wife Arza, their sons Maurice, Michael and Nathan and his sister Mala.

Sir Ben Helfgott: born November 22, 1929. Died June 16, 2023

If you’d visited during the winter of 1945, however, you’d have seen rope coiling the banister, strategically placed to prevent the children who lived there from “breaking their necks” trying to slide down it.