Hana's Suitcase

Elizabeth Levin is a professor of psychology at Laurentian University.

Part detective story, part biography, Hana’s Suitcase tells the
real-life story of Hana Brady, a Jewish girl growing up in a small Czech
town who was exterminated by the Nazis. It also tells the story of a
children’s Holocaust education centre in Japan that is designed to
bring awareness of the Holocaust to young people. When Hana’s suitcase
arrives at the centre, the children urge the curator to find out about
Hana.

Following the description of Hana’s happy young life, we learn about
the ugly laws that were passed after the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia,
and about the deportation of families to prison towns and, eventually,
concentration camps. Hana was 13 when she died in Auschwitz in October
1944, shortly before the war ended. In the end, her brother, who
survived the camps, is discovered in Toronto.

At the heart of this sad story is a hopeful message: if we remember, it
may not happen again. Accompanying the text are copies of official war
documents and photos of Hana, her artwork, and the Japanese centre.
Highly recommended.