Retirement

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In 1995, Ben and Jean moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to retire and settle down. By now they were grandparents to multiple grandchildren.

That same year, Ben spoke about the Holocaust at his grandson’s elementary school (Lesser, 267). This was Ben’s first time publicly speaking about his experience; he had broken his silence after fifty years. As a result of this, Ben went on to speak about his journey within the Holocaust at hundreds of schools, as well as religious and community groups for many years. Although he was “retired”, Ben found a purpose in spreading education about the Holocaust.

In 2009, Ben founded the non-profit educational organization, ZACHOR Holocaust Remembrance Foundation (Lesser, 285). The motivation behind the establishment came from a small, gold pin he was given. On the pin, there were Hebrew letters of the word “ZACHOR” which meant “Remember” (Lesser, 283).

In October that year, Ben spoke at the Tennessee State University Holocaust Education Conference (Lesser, 286). Panelists were to recount different aspects of their Holocaust experiences. This event had a strong impact on Ben for a very special reason. While members of the panel were discussing the cattle cars, it was discovered that the two American soldiers that Ben had faced while being liberated at Dachau were there, sitting feet away from him (Lesser, 288). Ben was finally able to meet the men that had saved his life 64 years ago.

Within the time since he retired, Ben had visited his parents' in the Bochnia Jewish cemetery on three separate occasions. The first time alone with Jean, the second time with his entire family, and the third time with 200 students who were participating in the 2010 “March of the Living” with him (Lesser, 332).

In 2011, at the age of 83, Ben published his biography, LIVING A LIFE THAT MATTERS: from Nazi Nightmare to American Dream (Lesser, 332).

To this day, Ben Lesser continues to dedicate his life to preserving the memory of the Holocaust.