HANA'S SUITCASE: AN ODYSSEY OF HOPE
Monday November 8, 2004 at 10pm ET/PT
repeating Monday May 2, 2005 at 10pm ET/PT

"What got me about the story is that it took school children in faraway Japan to draw our attention to something that happened only a few kilometres from Prague - events Czech children are hardly aware of." -  Czech journalist Romana Ruzickova

Veteran correspondent Joe Schlesinger presents the documentary Hana's Suitcase: An Odyssey of Hope - the story of one Japanese woman's persistent search for the owner of a suitcase that emerged from the mountain of suitcases at Auschwitz. It not only revives the memory of Hana Brady, the Czech girl who died in the gas chamber, it teaches a new generation of children about the Holocaust and the need for tolerance to prevent another such catastrophe.

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Hana's Suitcase: An Odyssey of Hope tells the harrowing true tale of the owner of the suitcase, Hana Brady. Brady was born in Nove Mesto, Czechoslovakia, in 1931. She was deported to Terezin, a ghetto for Czech Jews outside of Prague, in 1942. She died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz in 1944, at the age of 13.

In 1998, Fumiko Ishioka, curator of the Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Centre asked various Holocaust museums if she could borrow some artifacts for an exhibit.  Auschwitz responded and sent her five items.  One such item was an empty little suitcase with the name Hana Brady, May 16, 1931 and Waisenkind, painted on the outside.

The children at the centre were fascinated by the suitcase, and asked her numerous questions. Driven by the children's curiosity, Ishioka set out to find out more about the owner of the suitcase. That journey took her to Terezin where she found out that Hana Brady had a brother. To her surprise, George Brady, was alive and well and living in Toronto.  He had seen his sister for the last time more than 50 years ago in Terezin and was the only member of his family to have survived the Holocaust.

The story inspired CBC Radio's Karen Levine to write a children's book, Hana's Suitcase, which captured the imagination of children around the world. It has been since been published in 30 countries and has won numerous awards.

Hana's Suitcase: An Odyssey of Hope is written and narrated by Joe Schlesinger and produced by Jet Belgraver. The shorter version from which this documentary has grown has just been nominated for a Gemini for Best news magazine segment.