Meeting a Survivor

I was very privileged today to meet a survivor of the Holocaust, Ben Hefglott. He was a remarkable individual. Having survived the horrors of the Nazi genocide, Mr Hefglott came to England and subsequently became a British Olympian champion - in weightlifting - in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.

I thought to myself how incredible it was that this amazing man, who had been born in a Polish Town, had been a victim of the Nazis. and yet, against all the odds, survived, and achieved great sporting prowess - as well as becoming a successful businessman.

Mr Hefglott - and his sister (also a survivor) - spends much of his time going up and down the country, giving talks to children in a wide range of schools.

I met Mr Hefglott, courtesy of the Holocaust Education Trust, who were holding a reception for Conservative Parliamentary Candidates, with guest speaker and Shadow Cabinet Minister Francis Maude MP.

Mr Maude - who was in Rwanda with me in 2008 - on Project Umubano - made the point that the work of the HET was essential, because, as with other genocides (such as in Rwanda in 1994), there were always revisionists who were ready to deny the existence of the genocide, or pretend that it had been exaggerated.

I was pleased to have been there. It was good to learn of the work of the HET and meet those who had suffered greatly but achieved so much.