Hana's Suitcase

Hana Brady

During the awful events of the disastrous and brutal Holocaust, one of the millions of Jews murdered was a thirteen year old girl called Hana Brady. Upon her arrival at Auschwitz on 23rd October 1944, Hana was led to an immediate death in the Gas Chambers where she met her early end as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Young Hana's story was revealed to the world in 2000, where a delivery of a Holocaust victim's suitcase arrived at Tokyo Holocaust Education Research Centre. 

Hana grew up in Czechoslovakia with her parents and her older brother George. She was born on 16th May 1931. In 1939 the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia and exercised  the same fascist rules as they had done and did in other countries that they took over such as Germany and Poland. These laws excluded and banned Jews from partaking and visiting the majority of the places in the village, e.g.: the cinema and certain shops as well as forcing each member of the Jewish community to wear a yellow Star of David which had the word 'Jude' printed on it. 'Jude' is German for Jew. The Bradys were the only Jewish family in their village which meant that they were the only family in their community to experience the discrimination from their peers and fellow civilians. In 1941, Hana and George's mother, Marketa, was arrested by the Gastapo and transported to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. In September of the same year, their father, Karel, was also taken. At this point the children were sent to their Catholic uncle. However both of them were called up by the Nazis in  the April of 1942. They were sent to Terezin, where they managed to keep in contact with. In 1944 they were transported to Auschwitz where Hana was gassed and George was forced to work. Thankfully George escaped and is now still alive.

Fumiko with Hana's suitcase

Without the help and research of Fumiko Ishioka, the life of Hana Brady would have remained a mystery. In 1999 she visited Auschwitz, Poland and requested a shoe and suitcase to be sent to Japan to the Holocaust Education Research Centre. When the suitcase arrived it had the name 'Hana Brady' along with the German word for orphan 'Waisenkind' as well as the date of Hana's birth written on it. The name, word and date on it caused curiosity to arise in the Japanese children. This curiosity influenced Fumiko to uncover Hana Brady's life story. As a result she discovered Hana's brother George who had since moved to Canada after realising that he was the only survivor in his family and he had become a successful plumber and was still there with a family of his own. In 2000 a book was published about Hana. 

Sources:

~ Wikipedia: Hana Brady

~ Anne Frank Guide: Hana and George Brady

~ Yad Vashem: Hana's Suitcase