How The Life Of Hana Brady Changed Lives

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.

Philomena Opened My Eyes

A group of my friends got together recently to view the movie, Philomena. It is a powerful movie, and as much as we enjoyed it initially, several days later we were still thinking about it, still wondering if it could be true. Were Catholic orphanages in Ireland selling the babies of unwed mothers to American families from 1948-1962? Yes they were, and before you jump to the terrible conclusion that I did, let me explain.

There was no abortion in Ireland in this time period, and the sin or all sins, both for the mother and her family, was to have a child out of wedlock. Many families sent their pregnant daughters to Catholic homes for unwed mothers to have their child and then have the child adopted out. All the adoptions at this time were done through Catholic organizations, as Ireland was at this time predominately Catholic. Culturally, the unwed mothers were shunned by society. So they went to a home for unwed mothers, had their child, and agreed to have the child adopted, and never speak of the event. Most mothers did this, but the hole in their heart was huge. Some went looking for their children years later, only to hit dead ends, as many of the children were given false names on their birth certificates. The children on the other end often faced the same dead end.

As portrayed in the movie, and in interviews with Philomena Lee herself, the most horrible part of the adoption process was that children were kept in an "orphanage" where their mothers served as indentured servants (repayment to the nuns for helping them through the birth of their child) and were allowed to see them an hour a day. This situation often lasted for several years, before the child was actually sold to an American family. It's one thing to take a baby at birth and put him into an adoptive family, but it's quite another to have them bond with their young mother, only to be taken from her several years later. It's really heartbreaking

The nuns were definitely doing a service for young unwed mothers, but the anguish for the mothers who lost their children must have been extraordinary. Both mother and child faced dead ends when looking for one another. Yes, most of these children went off to families and had a better life than they would have had in Ireland, but the way the separation took place was inhumane.

Of course things have changed now, in the age of the internet. Anyone can eventually find anyone. However, thousands of mothers and children were never able to reunite, before death came to one or the other. The Irish process of having children adopted in America was also prominent in other European countries after WW11. Young girls got pregnant by a soldier who never returned, and the mothers and babies were taken in by Catholic organizations. Many I'm sure were not as uncaring as depicted in the movie Philomena, but this was not unique. I found dozens of articles by children looking for their mothers, who describe similar circumstances. The movie was not a knock on the Catholic Church, but on the mores of the time, which made pregnancy out of marriage such a sin. (for Catholics and non Catholics). I want to believe that most nuns felt they were doing the right thing, the moral thing. Thinking has changed today, and even though the church still sees out of wedlock pregnancy as a sin, it would be handled differently. I guess the human race is making some progress.

A Night At The Movies-Priceless

Recently we gals have been getting together for "chick Flick Movies". You know, the ones the men have no interest in seeing. We saw Julie and Julia together (great), Sex in the City (not so great), and last night night Eat,Pray,Love(far from great). The best part of the evening was, as usual, the dinner and conversation after the movie.

I never read the book from which the film was adapted, but I think I would like it. It's about a woman in an unhappy marriage who leaves home for a year to find herself, to find balance in her life, through her travels to Italy, India and Bali. The photography of the various locations is beautiful, but the movie itself, well I really can't recommend it.

After the movie we came back to Kim's house, watched the sunset from her ocean front location, had a glass of wine, and critiqued the movie. Now that was spectacular. Seven strong women in their 50's and 60's talking about finding balance in life and trying to come up with one word to describe themselves. That's really hard. Just when you think you have the right word you think of something else that better describes you. One of the women said the word to describe me is "collector". By that she meant collector of friends, experiences, things, Another woman thought of herself as a "taster". A taster of life, a little of this, a little of that. I thought that was a really good word.

After the sunset we sat down for some serious eating. Based on the movie, Kim went with an Italian theme. Salad, fresh bread and hard butter, homemade minestrone soup, then pasta and chicken caccitore. The meal concluded with spumoni ice cream and biscotti and shortbread cookies. Oh, did I mention more wine? Yes, there was more wine.

I can't wait for the next chick flick movie extravaganza. The movie cost me $9, but the evening that followed, well that was priceless.

Look Into My Eyes

I just returned from the final day of the Jewish Film Festival. This is one of my favorite events of the year, and this year I almost missed the whole thing. When I first got the calendar of events, I circled those films that interested me, then proceeded to get busy and never got to see anything. Finally, on the last day of the event, I went to see Look Into My Eyes, a documentary by Israeli filmaker Naftaly Gliksberg.

Gliksberg travels from Poland to Paris, Germany and the U.S. to talk to ordinary people about Jews and whether anti-Semitism is on the rise. It is a startling personal journey of painful discoveries as he explores representations and impressions of Jews and Israelis around the world. As he visits individuals in various countries Gliksberg discovers that people's responses to his pointed questions are often a mixture of their own culture, some version of history, and a certain collective psychology.

Gliksberg is a former rabbi who gave it all up at age 29 (he looks like he's in his late 50's now) to become a filmmaker. Much of what he found is not new. One interesting fact I learned is that from studies of anti-Semitism in Europe they have found that most of the racism comes from the indigenous people, not from the immigrants. This is contrary to what I thought. Stereotypes of Jews were the same world wide. Rich, controlling the money, having horns,Gliksberg heard them all. There were also some who denied the Holocaust.

There was some talk of the media and how it effects our perception of anti-Semitism. An Israeli on the discussion panel mentioned that the reason Israeli news talks about anti-Semitism is that it sells newspapers and films. People like to hear about it. Many, including the ADL feel that constantly discussing the topic only fuels the fire. The work of the ADL is evident on most major college campuses. Believe it or not, many American students do not have an opinion about Jews by the time they reach college. As surprising as this is, it's a good thing. It's very difficult (maybe impossible) to change perceptions that have been developed over years of reinforcement. The Israeli professor on the panel, who is teaching at San Diego State this year, says he has NOT encountered strong anti-Semitic feelings amongst his students, and feels he has a chance to give his students facts and let them draw their own conclusions.

However, there are many militant groups around the world that are teaching their children something very different. Anti-Semitism, and racism in general, is reality and we need to hope that schools, churches, synagogues and parents are teaching our youth the facts. Give kids the facts and let them draw their own conclusions. This movie was powerful and provocative, and if you have an opportunity to see it, please do.

What They Don't Want Us To Know

I recently watched the movie The Cove, and I won't soon forget it. I don't know if you'll find it in the theatre or not. It's a docu drama about an important subject, something the Japanese govenment has kept secret from it's people and the world, until now.

It took the bravery, and probably the guilt, of Ric O'Barry to expose the situation. In the city of Taiji, Japan, a city that would have you believe they love and adore dolphins, a dirty little secret has been exposed. There is a beautiful cove in Taiji, one that attracts hundreds of thousands of dolphins a year. They come to the cove because they think it is safe. In reality, most of them never return to the sea. They are either killed by the night fisherman, or captured and sent to entertainment facilities like Sea World.

Many years ago when Ric O'aerry was a young animal trainer, he began capturing and training dolphins for the TV show Flipper. Dolphins had never before been captured and used for entertainment. At the time O'Barry had no idea of the depth of a dolphins intelligence, or the human bond that could develop between dolphin and man. His exposure of what's happening in Taiji is partially redemption for what he did to this intelligent creatures many years ago.

Undeterred, O'Berry joins forsces with filmmaker Louis Psihoyos and Oceanic Preservation Society, to get the truth of what's really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone. He recruits an "Oceans 11" style team of underwater sound and camera experts, special effects artists, marine explorers, and world class free divers who carry out an undercover operation to photograph the off limits cove. What he finds is local fisherman going at night to hunt, kill and capture dolphins, by the thousands. Many are sold to amusement parks, but most of the meat is sold to the Japanese public for human consumption. The problem is, the mercury level in the meat is 2000% higher than what the law allows, and the government does nothing to stop it.

The movie is a provacative mix of investigative journalism, eco adventure and arresting imagery that adds up to an urgent plea for hope. If you get a chance to see this movie, please do. It's got so much to say, and makes clear the greed of our culture, even at the risk of killing ourselves. You won't want to miss this powerful film.

Play the Game, A New Film for Young and Old

I try to blog about things I have experienced first hand, but that's not always possible. My friend Paula is a huge movie fan. I respect her opinion, and if she says it's a good movie, I listen. She recently told me about the yet to be released independent film by writer/director Marc Fienberg, Play the Game. I have not seen it yet, but upon her recommendation, will tell you something about it, so when it opens soon at the Landmark Theatres, you'll make time to see it.

This original comedy is filled with surprising and clever twists. It's about a young ladies' man, David, who teaches his dating techniques to his 84 year old widowed grandfather, Joe, all the while playing his best mind games to meet Julie, the woman of his dreams. Slowly the teacher becomes the student, and it's up to Grandpa to teach David the best way to win the game is not to play games at all.

Play the Game finally confirms what many of us have known all along, but never wanted to confront. Old people still "do it". And they enjoy it. Audiences love following the journey of 84 year old Joe as he looks for love with the same fear, insecurity and excitement as any schoolboy. It adroitly balances gently comedy with refreshing frankness, a la movies like Cocoon, Harold and Maude, and Harry and Tonto.

The cast consists of beloved television stars Andy Griffith, Doris Roberts and Liz Sheridan, in addition to Paul Campbell and Marla Sokoloff. I can't wait to see it.

This movie was inspired by a true story. Years after the death of his wife, writer/director Marc Fienberg's real-life Granpa Joe confided a secret he just couldn't hold back. "I kissed a girl last week," he said. Marc found the act of a grandfather soliciting his grandson for advice on how to approach a woman, what to say, and when to call her, surprisingly touching. He included it as a second major storyline, using the real life discussions with his own grandfather as a foundation for David and Grandpa's bonding over dating mysteries and rituals as men have had for time immemorial.

I can't wait until it opens. I hope I have sparked your interest in this new movie which should appeal to old and young alike, and thank you Paula, for your recommendation.