I am going to tell you about an incredible man, he was the founder, the leader of the 45 Aid Society.
Ben Helfgott changed people’s lives and made a difference. You can’t say that about many people. He was, without question, the most incredible man I’ve ever met.
He started talking about Holocaust before anybody else and made it an easy open door for people to talk about Holocaust whether they were a survivor and wanted to be part of one the big organisations.
The difference that he has made has been incredible and enormous.
Sir Ben Helfgott, Janek Goldberger and Harry Spiro
Sir Ben Helfgott with two other 'Boys' Janek Goldberger and Harry Spiro (Photo: Handout)
A few years ago, I went with Ben to a Holocaust event.
They gave us a car and when we arrived, the good and the great were there. He introduced me to Prime Ministers, ex-Prime Ministers, the head of this, and the head of that.
He was delightful with every one of them, he had time, he was talking to them, and everything was wonderful. But what made him amazing was how he connected with people, Ben didn’t have an ego.
On the way home Ben connected with the driver exactly the same as he connected with Prime Ministers and Lords.
He saw everybody as wonderful human beings and got the best from people. When we came out of the car, this chap came round and they were talking about India and they were talking about Holocaust and it was a long journey.
When we came out of the car, this gentleman said to Ben ‘Sir I will never forget you’. That to me is the most amazing thing about Ben. It doesn’t matter if you were important or just Joe in the street, he treated everybody with the same respect, with the same dignity and listened to what they had to say.
He was a giant of a man not just because of the outstanding work that he did but just as an amazing human being.
I’ve known Ben all my life. It was Ben that told me my father’s Holocaust story because my dad couldn’t talk about Holocaust and hardly said a word about what he'd been through.
I’ve connected with him on so many levels, I love him with every pride of my being because perhaps reminds me of my dad. He reminds me of everything that is good, he reminds me and tells me all the reasons why I have to do the work that I do in Holocaust education. He’s given me the strength to do that and so many people involved in Holocaust education.
His legacy will last through his family and through The Windermere Boys. Ben also understood how a second and third generation needed to know the story of the Shoah.
Robert Rinder MBE with his mum Angela Cohen MBE
Robert Rinder MBE with his mum Angela Cohen MBE
He has made it easier for us to be able to continue his legacy. It’s a very different world now from the world I grew up in and my kids and grandkids.
He’s opened doors and allowed us to continue his work. We wouldn’t be able to talk about things in the first place and start any kind of Holocaust education in the first place and talk about what it’s like to be a survivor now whether you’ve just come from the Ukraine or countries like Afghanistan.
Now I understand how these stories have to be told through the prism of ‘The Boys’ and the 45 Aid Society.
Lots of ‘The Boys’ would have not said anything if it wasn’t for Ben. He understood that the story had to be told.
He also taught us never to hate and I think perhaps if there is a legacy that Ben and all ‘The Boys’ insisted on, it would be never to hate, it doesn’t do you any favours.
Ben was a giant, loving and determined.
Angela Cohen MBE, is the Chairman of the '45 Aid Society, a charity dedicated to Holocaust education.
