'gLr E2 g i- wish famili A Girl's Power Beyond The Grave In "Hands Suitcase," a young Holocaust victim still teaches lessons decades later. DAVID TECHNER Special to the Jewish News 0 ne year ago, at the conclu- sion of my mother's burial, my wife Ilene and I stood silently at the graves of my father and our daughter Alicia with our children, An, Chad and Stephanie. Ari was 16 months old when my father died, but Alicia's death preceded the births of each of our children. That evening, Ari requested a family meeting. Acting in his "big" brother role, An articulated a sense of empti- ness standing at Alicia's grave. He explained that the inscription: "Alicia Joy Techner Beloved Daughter, Granddaughter and Great-Granddaughter May 18, 1977 - Jan. 19, 1978" was lacking the word "sister." We stated the obvious — that they had not been born when she died. Their rebuttal simply was that they knew the impact Alicia had on them individually and collectively as a family and believed that this reality should be reflected on her stone. On Tuesday, May 4, the 23rd annual Alicia Joy Techner Memorial Parenting Conference will present the story Hands Suitcase. This touching and compelling book brings three worlds together, spanning seven decades. Hana Brady died almost 60 years ago upon her arrival at Auschwitz. Her suitcase arrived 55 years later in Tokyo, Japan, with Techner the inscription: Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, WAISENKIND (German for orphan). The suitcase was sent to Fumiko Ishioka, the curator of the Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center, a response from the Auschwitz Museum. The suitcase was among many articles to be used to teach Japanese children of the horrors of the Holocaust. The suitcase came with no informa- tion other than the inscription on the outside. Who was Hana Brady? What happened to her? Did she survive? Is she still alive? Does she have family? Were they all killed in the horrors of the Holocaust? The quest for answers was carried on a world away. George Brady, Hana's only surviving relative, receives a letter postmarked from Tokyo. In explaining her role at the Resource Center, Ishioka states she is in possession of Hands . Suitcase and requests infor- mation about Hana, pho- tos, stories, etc. "Please for- give me if my letter hurts you, reminding you of your past difficult experiences. "Children here do not have a chance to learn about the Holocaust, but we believe it is our respon- sibility to let our next gen- eration learn the lessons of the Holocaust so that such a tragedy would never be repeated again. "I was wondering if you would kind- ly be able to tell us about Hana's story ...; anything that would help children here feel close to you and Hana, to understand what prejudice, intolerance and hatred did to young Jewish chil- dren." George was stunned. Such amazing connections and strange coincidences had brought three worlds together: the children of Japan, George in Canada and the lost world of a Jewish girl from Czechoslovakia who died so long ago. The conference will bring to Temple Israel George Brady, Fumiko Ishioka, Karen Levine (the author of Hanas Suitcase) and of course, Hands suitcase. It has been almost 60 years since Hana died. Ilene and I will stand as one with George Brady with the sense of pride that two girls who died so young continue to impact the world they left behind in ways that none of us could have imagined. Our presenters will speak to approxi- mately 500 fourth-sixth-grade Sunday school students at Temple Israel and another 300-plus at Temple Israel's Monday night school. Monday and Tuesday, Hands Suitcase will be present- ed to more than 1,000 middle and high school kids whose schools accept- ed our invitation to hear this extraordi- nary story. Their visit will conclude as we hope to welcome over 1,000 people to the 23rd annual Alicia Joy Techner Memorial Parenting Conference. Ati, Chad and Stephanie delivered a powerful message as they articulated Alicia's legacy to them, even though they never met her. They know that her _presence in our lives helped to shape who they are today — and for that they are grateful. Alicia's grave marker now contains the word "sister," placed at her grave one week after our family meeting. Hana Brady dreamed of being a teacher. Ilene and I are touched that in Alicia's memory, 60 years after her death, we are a small part of making Hands dream a reality. ❑ The Neverending Story How a chance stop in Europe changed "Hands Suitcase" author's life. ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM AppleTree Editor hen Karen Levine was a little girl, memories of the Holocaust were still so fresh that no one knew quite what to say about it. So there were a handful of books, a lot of stumbling and, most of all, silence. And certainly no one went to Germany. Why would you want to go there? It was the very paradigm of evil, a land where even new flowers seemed to reek with the scent of death. It was no place for a family vacation. When Karen Levine and her par- ents went to Europe — Karen was 13 years old, and she knew next to noth- ing about the Nazis — it never crossed their minds to stop in Germany. Then they saw two hitchhikers along the road, and they stopped to pick them up. The hitchhikers were German, looking for a ride home. "So we ended up in Germany," Levine says. "And while there, my parents decided to visit a concentra- tion camp. It was a life-changing visit for me." What she saw- at the camp's muse- urn — those pictures for which there are still no words — remains with her to this day. "I will carry the images from the museum all my life," she says. So perhaps it is no surprise that a small article in the Canadian Jewish News attracted Levine's attention more than 30 years later. That article would lead to the pub- lication of Levine's first book, Hana's Suitcase, the story of a Levine determined Japanese museum curator, Fumiko Ishioka, and a little girl who died decades before Fumiko was even born. Hands story will be the focus of several programs at Temple Israel, including a presentation open to the public. What If? a After her trip to Germany, Levine remembers coming home and reading. "I read voraciously, any- thing I could about the Holocaust," she says. "I just read and I never stopped." For Chanukah, she passed on pres- ents of books about girls growing up NEVERENDING STORY on page 32 TaT • 4/30 2004 31