Hana's Suitcase on Stage

by Karen Levine, Emil Sher (Contributor)

Hana's Suitcase, which has been translated into more than thirty-five languages and is currently being developed into two feature-length films, tells the incredible true story of a Japanese Holocaust educator who traveled the globe to track down information about the owner of a suitcase found at Auschwitz. Her search led her to the owner's long-lost brother and a history of both love and tragedy.
Since its publication in 2002, the story of Hana Brady, a little girl who wanted to become a teacher, has captured the hearts and minds of schoolchildren and adults around the globe. Now, with a stage play touring North America, Hana's story becomes even more alive. Hana's Suitcase on Stage is a unique volume that combines the story and images of the original book with the complete script of award-winning writer Emil Sher's theatrical adaptation. It's a must-read-and a must-see-for teachers and schoolchildren from coast to coast.
Karen Levine has won several awards for her radio work, including two Peabody awards. Levine originally produced Hana's Suitcase as a radio documentary and later made it into a book. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Emil Sher is a multitalented, award-winning writer whose works include stage plays, radio dramas, short fiction and essays. Sher lives with his wife and two children in Toronto, Ontario, and Morin Heights, Quebec.
Hana's Suitcase on Stage opened to very positive reviews and lots of press in St. Louis in January 2007. Here are a few of the review comments:
--- Riverfront Times
"This is a big deal for St. Louis, and the exquisite production merits the widespread support it is receiving... The set design by Dunsi Dai enhances the story's emotional power... Late in the evening, when Hana lit a birthday candle, I was reminded of a speech from William Hanley's little-remembered 1964 drama, Slow Dance on the Killing Ground. A former railroad engineer on the Auschwitz line who delivered countless Jews to their death says, "Every year a bunch of Jewish people get together and light a fat candle for the 6 million Jews the Nazis killed. A candle. For 6 million people you light the sun, maybe. But a candle?" Hana's Suitcase is only a candle, but it burns brightly.
--- Jewish In St. Louis
Article - "Real Characters from Hana's Suitcase Get 'Rock Star Ovation' at Holocaust Museum"
--- Jewsweek
Article - "'Hana's Suitcase' has premiere in America"
--- St. Louis Post Dispatch
"Metro Theater Company and The Edison Theatre recently celebrated their sold-out opening night performance of the U.S. premiere of "Hana's Suitcase," a true story of the Holocaust. A champagne and dessert reception was held to honor featured guests including the real-life Hana's surviving brother, George Brady and his family, who flew in from Toronto; the playwright Emil Sher, also from Canada; Fumiko Ishioka, a principal character in the play who flew in from Japan; and the consuls general from Israel and Japan."
--- KSDK NewsChannel 5
"Hana's Suitcase is a thought provoking new play that is making its U.S. premiere right here in St. Louis... It's a powerful production, about two children caught in the holocaust and a young Japanese teacher's determination to tell their story.
It's a production you'll want to make sure to see with your kids."
--- This Week In St. Louis
"This compelling new play for families and young people delivers a sensitive message about why we must teach tolerance and acceptance."
--- Washington University in St. Louis Record
Article - U.S. Premiere of Hana's Suitcase Comes to Edison
Carol North, artistic director for Metro Theatre, directs the cast of nine, which is led by Haruna Tsuchiya as Fumiko and Leah Schumacher as Hana... "We are thrilled to be partnering with Edison Theatre to bring this powerful play to St. Louis audiences," North said. "Emil Sher's script weaves past and present in a seamless theatrical journey that takes us through the darkness of the Holocaust and into the light of hope."
"Hana's story isn't sugar-coated. But there's also a moment of redemption in that the Japanese children are able to rescue her story from oblivion. By emphasizing their active involvement, Hana's Suitcase shows that children can play a positive role in shaping their world and responding to injustice--that they're not just passive victims."

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, World War II, Survival, Realistic Fiction, Childrens

172 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2006

About the author

Karen Levine is a prizewinning producer with CBC Radio. She worked for many years on CBC programs including As It Happens, The Sunday Edition and This Morning as producer of the “First Person Singular” series. Karen has won awards for her radio work, including two Peabody Awards(the Oscars of radio). Levine originally produced Hana’s Suitcase as a radio documentary and later made it into a book. Though she travels widely (most recently to Australia and Japan) to talk about the book, she makes her home in Toronto with her partner and her son.

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

HANA'S SUITCASE ON STAGE is the definitive version for those interested in reading this remarkable story for the first time. Containing both the original story, HANA'S SUITCASE, written by Karen Levine, and the play version by well-known playwright Emil Sher, this is a must-have for your keeper shelf.

HANA'S SUITCASE is the story (bestselling, I might add) of a suitcase that arrived at a children's Holocaust education center in Tokyo in March of 2000. Written in white paint on the outside of the suitcase was the name Hana Brady, the date of May 16, 1931, and the word Waisenkind, which is German for orphan.

Of course the children at the center immediately wondered who Hana was, where the suitcase came from, and who had sent it to them. It was up to the center's director, Fumiko Ishioka, to find the answers to those questions, and many more.

What follows is Mr. Ishioka's search, throughout Europe and North America, to find out any information he could about Hana Brady -- and that fateful suitcase.

In Emil Sher's play version, the story is the same, but brought vividly to life by his playwriting. Perfect either as a story to read or as inspiration for a school drama club, this is the play that you don't want to miss.

Kudos to such a great version: HANA'S SUITCASE ON STAGE is great!

[Julie ₍ᐢ..ᐢ₎♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a very cute story but I cried too much anyways hate the foreshadowing (made me cry)

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is the heart warming and emotional story of a young Jewish teenager during the World War Two holocast. This young girl was born in Czechoslovakia in 1931 and through a series of actions by the Hitler relocations ended up dying upon arrival at Aushwitz. That was not the end of the story. Seventy years later her suitcase with her name emblazoned on its side ended up at a Holocast museum in Japan. It was here that the curator and many of her students determined that they had to learn of Hana's fate and her story. Following much correspondence and trips to Europe and North America this story unfolded and it was further learned that her brother survived and was living in Toronto. The book requires a tear or more and personalizes this tragic time in our lives. This particular edition shares both the book and a play written by the curator which opened in St. Louis several years ago.

[Terry]

Parent Perspective: This is a 10. There are no weak spots in the story. The three independent story lines is an imaginative way to keep the reader on the edge of their seat ... and then there's the script for the play.

This is a fascinating story that readers will find hard to put down.

[Yasmin Leal · Rating 4 out of 5]

O livro não é tão extenso quanto os outros dois, pois infelizmente Hana foi uma das milhões de vítimas do holocausto. O livro é raso, por não ter tanta informações sobre ela, mas a mala encontrada é devolvida ao irmão é tão linda, que vale a obra inteira. Penso o tanto de pessoas que nunca puderam ter notícias de familiares, amigos

[hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for school, and you know what? I actually enjoyed it. It was sad :( but I'm glad my teacher had us read it.

(~3.5 stars)

[Teig G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is an important read everyone should pick up at least once in their life.

[Alicia Fenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't yet read the play version of the book (the second half of this edition) but I have to say this short non-fiction text really moved me. What is most striking and different about it is its structure. It alternates between present day stories in Japan about the curiosity and tenacity of a museum curator and her students interested in an artifact that arrives at their museum one day: Hana's Suitcase. In between are Hana's stories and the mystery of how the curator could have learned these stories. And then ultimately a story in Canada of a survivor.

The prose is very simple, meant for children, but clear and moving in its simplicity; this is, after all, a children's story. The chapters are short and impactful; I found myself teary and with goosebumps after every chapter conclusion and tore through it in one evening (at only 88 pages, who wouldn't!).

Furthermore, what made this book so moving is the pictures provided of Hana's family and the drawings she produced at Terezin, which I visited a few months ago for the ISTA festival with Sturgis teachers Anna Botsford and Rachel Ollagnon (and their wonderful students). To hear a story about a person who lived and breathed in that place, and told in such a way, was a chilling experience. Terezin is a fascinating ghetto and I hope many people have the chance to see it and experience its strange uniqueness.

So often we hear Holocaust stories but what about the next generation of people learning about these stories? And what about the importance of education? Of inquiry and risk-taking? This isn't just a survival story or one of loss. It's the story about knowledge and memory, how to acquire and retain it. And most importantly of the importance of passing on legacies.

[Maggie Mattmiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the play first, with a group of 4th and 5th graders (as part of the Seattle Public Library's Global Reading Challenge). It's almost like I had forgotten that there were people in this world that didn't know the horror that was the Holocaust. For a minute, no, for just a second I almost felt bad taking away that innocence. Then, I remembered how powerful education is, and what it was the kids would get from this story. The kids were soooo into the story, and learning about Hana! They were excited as the Japanese kids in the story, wanting to know more! I don't need to put any of my judgement on this one for "if" kids would be into it or not, because the kids at my school (4th and 5th grade) were definitely into it!

I then read the non-fiction, and also enjoyed that! The writing was pretty simple- at times it almost felt too simple. The story didn't include much that wasn't in the play, but it was good to read it in that format as well. I also really enjoyed the photographs, both of the Brady family as well as the kids in Japan at the center. Also loved Hana's drawings.

Definitely a good introduction to the Holocaust to upper elementary students. There is not a lot in the way of Holocaust information/details, but it shows a bit of what it was like from children's eyes.

[Adriana Mendoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my reads for this semester was “Hitler Youth.” I wanted to read more about the Holocaust and found this book in our school library. This book is written for a teenage audience but an adult would enjoy it as well. The story is about a young girl named Hana Brady. She was 13 when she was sent to Auschwitz. There she was put to death. However, her story didn't end there. Before Hana arrived to Auschwitz she traveled with her suitcase to her family’s home in Czechoslovakia. Years later a woman in Japan decided to open a museum dedicated to the Holocaust. She wanted to teach young people about this horrible part of history. She request artifacts for her museum and the suitcase arrives to her doorstep. Determined to figure out the story of the mysterious suitcase she traces it back to the horrors of Auschwitz. This story was really good and it is a good way to teach the young ones about the holocaust.

[Jen Ozburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I taught 4th or 5th graders, this would definitely be my go-to book for not only Holocaust related literature, but research skills. Teaching adolescents about research can be a very monotonous task. I can just imagine staring out into a class of 35 hyperactive, 12-year-olds explaining the repercussions of plagiarism and the definition of peer reviewed. Tedious indeed. But research can be so fun, in fact, it is something that I do often and with enthusiasm as an adult. Maybe I read too much Nancy Drew as a child, but I love research and a book like Hana's Suitcase: A True Story hits right on the appeal of finding and perpetuating truth, which in the case of the Holocaust, despite so many books on the topic, leaves so many stories yet to be told.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book on CD. It was the story of a woman in Tokyo Japan who wanted to teach the Japanese children about the Holocaust. She starts out with very little to use then she receives a suitcase that all they know about it was that it once belonged to a little Jewish orphan girl named Hana Brady. Who was she? What happened to her? Was she still alive? The Japanese woman makes it her mission to get these answers that take her across the globe from Japan to the Czech Republic and Canada. Her efforts are not in vain and because of that Hana's life was not in vain either.

PS The book is called Hana's Suitcase. I could only find this script version listed on Goodreads. The audio version is great because the main characters actually tell their own stories more briefly at the end.

[Christiane · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the kids doing Global at Queen Anne brought back our uncat copy and I asked her what she thought. She said “It was really sad.” It certainly is. I think it is an important story, though, that can help children make sense of the Holocaust. It’s very hard to understand numbers like one-and-a-half million Jewish children were killed in the war; it is very easy to relate to one girl named Hana who liked to ski and play games with her brother and was killed in Auschwitz when she was only 13. Have tissue ready and be prepared to answer some hard questions if you’re reading this with a child.

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A suitcase is found in a museum and one woman makes it her quest to find out who the owner is and all about her life.

This book was great! I really enjoyed learning about how such a little item could provide so much insight and information into someone's life. This was a sad look into the holocaust, but one that should be told, tastefully written for children.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for mother / daughter book club as well as seeing the play tomorrow. I thought it was about as approachable as you can get for kids trying to begin to understand the Holocaust. Interesting cross cultural angle of kids in Japan trying to learn and spread the story of 11 year old Hana and her suitcase. We'll see if tender hearted Meghan can handle it.

[Sophie Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read this twice (for academic reasons).. but it was so unbelievably touching. I cannot believe this is children's literature. A story celebrating life rather than death in the face of tragedy.

[Gabriela · Rating 5 out of 5]

a sad and true tale it seems like this is just a story but it really happened

[Lisagarden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful book.

[Olivia Ivaha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book felt like a story within a story. The journey was emotional as it carried the story behind the holocaust. Excellent book!

[Jennybeast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, and inspiring.
SPL Global Reading Challenge 2016

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. We have to keep telling these truths to the next generations.