YAD VASHEM- 01/12/2020

In 1942, Gershon Henoch and Frania Kessel, and their three-year-old daughter, Sara, were sent by the Nazis to the Piotrków Ghetto. Despite the harsh conditions in the ghetto, Gershon Henoch managed to make a pendant to give to his wife as a present. The pendant was crafted as a book with a photograph of Frania inside, and was adorned with her initials.

During the liquidation of the ghetto the family was separated – Gershon Henoch was deported to Buchenwald, while Frania and little Sara were sent to Ravensbrück where they were housed in a block for women and children.

Sarah and Frania were later transferred to the Bergen-Belsen camp. Frania Kessel died three weeks after the camp was liberated. Six-year-old Sarah was left all alone with the pendant as her last remaining memory of her mother. Sarah was eventually reunited with her grandmother and discovered that her father Gershon had also survived. All three of them immigrated to Israel to begin a new life.

Tragically, Frania did not live to cherish the unique gift her husband made for her, but her daughter Sarah decided to entrust Yad Vashem with her mother’s pendant, to preserve for future generations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Yad Vashem to close its doors to the public for many months now. Yet our work and our vital mission must continue. Holocaust remembrance doesn’t stop just because our museum doors are closed.

This Giving Tuesday, help us ensure that the last remaining personal items of the Jews murdered in the Holocaust will be preserved for future generations.

Donate Today.