HARRY HAFT is not a name many boxing fans will recognise — which is a shame because this is a man who endured more than anyone who’s ever laced up the gloves, who was quite literally forced to fight for his own survival. 

Born Herschel Haft in Belchatow, Poland in 1925, Haft was Jewish and during the Nazi occupation of his country he was incarcerated just shy of his sixteenth birthday. He was then held at various camps before ending up at Auschwitz in 1942. There he was beaten, starved, and seemingly destined for death. However due to his natural strength and impressive physique — half starved notwithstanding — Haft was provided with a lifeline by an SS camp overseer who selected him to take part in bareknuckle fights against other inmates for the entertainment of the officers.

These fights were held at the Jaworzno concentration and labour camp, an Auschwitz sub-camp whose inmates worked at the coal mine located there.