Yad Vashem- ‘a memorial’ to tell a story to the children
Fred Lessing was born in 1936 in The Hague, Netherlands. One night in 1942, a friend warned Fred’s parents that their names were on a list of Jews slated for deportation in the coming hours. The family hurriedly left the house with nothing but the clothes on their backs. On the way out, Fred managed to grab his little teddy, “Bear.” For the next three years, Fred was hidden in a number of homes with Christian families, always making sure to keep his true identity a secret. During this time, Bear was the only one who accompanied Fred as he moved from house to house; he became his closest friend, his confidante, and source of comfort.
After the war, Bear remained with Fred and went with him to the United States. Years later, Fred agreed to make ‘Yad Vashem’ Bear’s new home. (Yad Vashem means ‘a memorial ‘ and it is a museum and a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust )
He struggled with the idea of sending his little bear so far away. But after careful thought, he called Yad Vashem and said:
“I spoke with my bear and I explained to him that, for the first time ever we would have to part. The reason was that he had to carry out a special task – he had to travel to Israel to take part in an exhibition with other toys from the period of the Holocaust and there he would tell our story to the children who came to visit the exhibition.” 