BOSTON —

It’s a story of quiet resilience and survival told through a small, handmade teddy bear named Sasha.

Sasha, now 81 years old, once belonged to Holocaust survivor Michael Gruenbaum. The bear was sewn by his mother, Margaret, while the family was imprisoned at the Terezín concentration camp in 1944.

Margaret was forced to work as a seamstress by the Nazis, tasked with making teddy bears that would be given as Christmas gifts to children of Nazi soldiers. But for Margaret, the work became much more than a cruel assignment — it became a lifeline. Fearing deportation, she intentionally slowed her pace, asking Nazi officers for more time to complete her work on Sasha.

“She had information that they needed to stay in Terezín,” said Peter Gruenbaum, one of Michael Gruenbaum's sons. “S

See Full Page