Teen Review: Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine

Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine

I can not express the sadness I felt while reading the horrible truths that I found hidden beneath the surface. One can't image the hardships that you'd have to face if you were a Jewish child during World War II. During the beginning to the war, Germany had most power. On March 15, 1939, Adolf Hitler had his Nazi troops march into Czechoslovakia where the Brady family lived. Jews were evil, dangerous and a bad influence in their eyes and they wanted to "eliminate" Jews from the planet. This is where Hana Brady (and her family) come in. The Brady's were a family of Jews that lived peacefully above their friend's store. Hana and her brother George played a lot with their school friends just like any other kid. They went to the movies, they attended school, and were basically good kids. But that all changed. Soon, their mother was taken away and arrested and their father was left to care for them. One day, when they went to go see a movie there was a sign that read "No Jews allowed". This discrimination confused and angered Hana. She asked why this was happening but unfortunately she didn't get answers, just more restrictions. The park, the skating pond, everything was taken away from her... and soon so was her Father. They were helpless. Their Uncle decided to take in Hana and George facing many consequences. Then, what Hana feared most happened. She and her brother were ordered to go to a concentration camp. With little food, warmth and light, Hana and George were put in different sections of the camp, and because she wasn't old enough, she wasn't allowed to see her brother. Hana was all alone. All she had was her tiny suitcase that held objects from a home far away.
Skip ahead 60 years to Tokyo, Japan 2000. There, in a little glass container sits Hana's suitcase or that's what they thought in the beginning. On it was written: Hana Brady. May 16 1931 and one word; Waisenkind, meaning 'orphan' in German. Who was Hana Brady? How did she become an orphan? The list of questions went on and on, until finally the director of the museum decided to try to learn anything and everything there was to learn about Hana Brady. Her name was Fumiko Ishioka. The Tokyo Holocaust Centre was dedicated to educating Japanese children all about the Holocaust. Fumiko researched, and traveled trying to find out more and more about the one little girl named Hana. She called up museums all around the world for any objects that they could send her to share with the children of the centre, and soon enough answers started popping up, but so did more questions. Did Hana have any brothers or sisters? the children asked. Was Hana still alive? Fumiko was determined to find out. She flew all the way to Terezin in Czech to find any clues leading to solve these questions. With the help of the museum secretary there, Fumiko discovered that Hana did in fact have a brother. She hoped that he survived so that she could possibly find Hana or even talk to George about his journey. They found a document that kept track of all the survivors during the war, and she was delighted to know that George was one of them! She also found out that George lived in Toronto, Canada and immediately got in touch. She was eager to share all of her information regarding his sister and asked if he had anything to share with the kids at the centre. She also wanted to know if his sister was still alive. When Gorge responded, he told her that sad truth. Unfortunately, Hana was killed in a gas chamber that the Nazi's had taken her to. A horrible way to die, but because of her, people today know more than ever about the Holocaust.
Now, George and Fumiko are good friends. Together they found that, tragically, Hana's original suitcase was destroyed and the Auschwitz museum created a replica based on a photograph. The Tokyo Holocaust Centre has expanded, more people wanted to know about Hana's suitcase and the Holocaust. Fumiko and George travel together sharing Hana's story and her suitcase. They want to spread the word of peace and the little girl (upon thousands more) that had suffered because there wasn't any. This story has inspired thousands, including me, and now there is even a motion picture of it. There is a lesson in this story and its up to us to learn it. Can you guess what it is?

- Symone