Inside Hana's Suitcase Review

Inside Hana's Suitcase Review - Jewish Journal Boston North

Remarkable Tale Sprouts From a Simple Suitcase

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

by Susan Jacobs
Jewish Journal Staff

It was an ordinary-looking black suitcase, battered with crudely printed white letters that read, “Hana Brady, May 16, 1931,” and “Waisenkind,” the German word for orphan.

Fumiko Ishioka, director of the Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center, received the artifact after visiting the Auschwitz Museum in 1999, and requesting some material to help educate Japanese children about the Holocaust.

In addition to the suitcase, Ishioka was sent several other relics — a child’s sock, shoe and sweater, and a can of Zyklon B poisonous gas. Although all the loaned objects were interesting, the educator and her students were particularly drawn to the suitcase. They yearned to learn more about its owner — Hana Brady.

Thus began a fascinating journey that took more than a year to unfold, and caused Ishioka to traipse across three continents. Doggedly following clues, she was successfully able to uncover and trace the fate of one Jewish family from Czechoslovakia.

The miraculous and surprisingly upbeat story is beautifully documented in Larry Weinstein’s emotional film, “Inside Hana’s Suitcase.” The movie debuted locally November 11 at the West Newton Cinema (where it is still playing), and will screen at Beverly’s Cabot Cinema from January 10 to 12.

Like the 2004 documentary “Paper Clips,” which illustrated how a Holocaust-related project at a Tennessee middle school educated students while galvanizing the region, “Inside Hana’s Suitcase” is specifically formatted to bring history alive to a new generation.

The tale slowly and deliberately unfolds, with contemporary young storytellers acting as narrators. Through painstaking research, Ishioka learned that Hana was imprisoned for two years at Terezin before being deported and murdered in Auschwitz. At Terezin, the 11-year-old received art and music lessons. Ishioka was able to secure copies of some of the girl’s drawings that were housed in the Jewish Museum in Prague.

Ishioka journeyed to Terezin seeking further information about Hana, and discovered that she had an older brother named George. Further investigation revealed that unlike his little sister, he survived the war and was living in Toronto, Canada. Eager to make contact, she sent George a letter, and much to her delight, he replied back.

The two ultimately met, and a story about the tearful reunion was published in the Canadian Jewish News. That article caught the attention of Canadian broadcaster Karen Levine, who created a prize-winning radio documentary on the subject and in 2002 published the children’s book “Hana’s Suitcase,” which has subsequently been translated into 40 languages. In 2006, the story was adapted for the stage.

Eventually, the story came to the attention of Canadian filmmaker Larry Weinstein, who insists that he never set out to make a Holocaust film.

“The subject was simply too dark and overwhelming. I had already made 25 films, but they were all about music,” he said.

Yet Weinstein was inexplicitly attracted to the story. He decided to make what he terms a “hybrid documentary drama.” In documentary style he interviewed all the key players and shot footage of the kind and grandfatherly George visiting Tokyo, Auschwitz and Czechoslovakia with his grown daughter, Lara. To illustrate the back story, Weinstein used historical reenactment, archive footage and old family photos.

Sharing his personal tragedy was challenging for George, but in retrospect, he is glad that he agreed to participate.

“It has been 67 years since I last saw my beloved sister alive. I think about Hana every day, and the life she may have lived had she survived the war. Hana’s life was cut short at too early of an age, but knowing that my sister still managed miraculously to teach millions of children about acceptance and compassion for others is an unbelievable gift that I cherish dearly,” he said.

Hana Brady was just one of 1.5 million children lost in the Holocaust, but thanks to the book, play and now this powerful film, her story and memory will never be forgotten.

Read this article at The Jewish Journal Boston-North.

Visit the Inside Hana's Suitcase movie page