Alec Ward, who changed his name from Abraham Warszaw, was a holocaust survivor whose family, originally from Radom in Poland, were gassed at Treblinka. He spent the war years in concentration camps, working in an ammunition factory at Thorsberg, clearing bomb rubble at Buchenwald and in quarries at the worst camp, Mauthausen in Austria, from where he was liberated by the Americans. While in camp he met Boris Bennett's niece, so when he was brought to England by Central British Fund and taken to a house in Southampton, given by the Montefiore family, he made contact with Boris, who with his wife Julia, came to visit him and invited Alec to spend time at their family home in London. They were a very sympathetic family and helped a lot with organising the hostel in Finchley Road, where Alec lived with other refugee teenagers. Alec was supported by Boris, until after learning ladies tailoring and starting to earn, was able to leave the hostel. He tells how the boys from the hostel had regular reunions and that Boris and Julia always attended.