She started a small holocaust museum in Tokyo, and through the course of many months, obtained artifacts from concentration camps to tell the story of the holocaust. The suitcase of Hana was one of the objects in the museum. Through letters to holocaust museums in Europe and the internet, this young Japanese teacher was able to recreate the life of Hana and her family.
Hana and her older brother George were sent to Terezin, in Czechoslovakia after both their parents were taken by the Nazis. Terezin was a model camp built by the Nazis, to show the world that what they were doing was only temporary, and the people were adequately housed and cared for. I visited Terezin in the late 1990's. It was nowhere anyone would want to be. Men and women were separated, and boys and girls were separated, so Hana, age 11, was separated from her brother George, and had no idea whether her parents were dead or alive. Terazin was built to house 5,000 people, but at its height, there were 50,000 people housed there. Many children and older people died from malnutrition or illness. There were, however, some amazing programs going on behind the backs of the Nazis. Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, a world famous artist before being taken to Terzain, ran a secret art school for the children. She felt that art allowed children to express their emotions. There were thousands of pictures produced by the children of Terazin. Some of them were buried on the grounds of the concentration camp, others were smuggled out of the camp and were hidden in and around Prague. Take a look at the two pictures I have posted done by some of the young children. In addition to an art school, there was a school, run by some of the adults. They did not want the children to be behind in their schoolwork when they got back home. There was also a secret magazine of boys, called Vadem, from 1942-1944. In it were short stories, poems and art work by some of the boys. Finally, there was a secret room in the barracks that the Jews turned into a synagogue. I find it so uplifting to think that in the most terrible of times, these people were continuing to live day to day, and plan for the future. What strength, what courage
Hana died at Auschwitz, but her brother George survived, and lives in Toronto today. Much of the story is told by George, who to this day, feels enormous guilt for not being able to take care of his sister.
George went to Tokyo to meet the teacher and the children who had taken such an interest in this story, and their meeting is so emotionally moving. The lives of these Japanese children have been changed forever with what they have learned about bigotry, understanding, and acceptance. Thanks to the story of Hana and George Brady, children all over the world will be educated in not only about what happened during this horrific time in history, but will pass it on to others so that the world never forgets.
this is sadly acurate
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