Paddington Bear arrived in London knowing no one.

He had just the clothes on his back, a small suitcase, and a tag asking the beholder to "please look after this bear."

The story of Paddington was inspired by author Michael Bond’s memories of the children he saw at the Reading train station during World War II, according to a 2014 interview he gave to the Guardian newspaper.

“They all had a label round their neck with their name and address on and a little case or package containing all their treasured possessions,” Bond recalled. “So Paddington, in a sense, was a refugee …”

Paddington’s tag and suitcase are reminiscent of photos of children seeking refuge during World War II. Some were British children being evacuated to the countryside to avoid German bombs. Others were Jewish refugees who had arrived via the Kindertransport, a rescue effort that brought thousands of refugee children, most of them Jewish, to Great Britain from Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1940.
The refugee bear’s story lives on in books and movies today.

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