TORONTO -- Seventy-five years since the liberation of Auschwitz, a book about a child murdered in the concentration camp is teaching thousands of Toronto students about the horrors and lessons of the Holocaust.
The book tells the real-life story of Hana, a Czechoslovakian Jewish girl murdered in the camp’s gas chamber, and her brother George, who survived Auschwitz and came to Canada.
In the book, a Holocaust educator learns about Hana and her brother after the little girl's suitcase was sent to her in Tokyo, Japan.
To commemorate the family and all victims of the genocide, the Toronto District School Board embarked on special project for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Thanks to Indigo and Second Story Press, more than 17,000 copies of Hana’s Suitcase were given to Grade 6 students in Toronto to help them better understand what happened.
The TDSB hosted a webcast Monday where students from hundreds of schools were able to tune in to learn more about the book and the people behind it.
While Hana’s brother George passed away last year, his daughter, Lara Hana Brady, spoke to some of the students through the webcast.
Students at Claude Watson School for the Arts in North York were invited to ask questions on the webcast and treated to a one-on-one session with Brady.
“We all have parents, we all have activities we like, and activities we don’t like and she didn’t deserve to die,” Brady told CTV News Toronto Monday.
“The fact is, if we can learn a little about the circumstances of her death then we can certainly help prevent that from happening to anyone else.”
“Hana is a child like me. We are both so young and it’s so terrible she was discriminated against in such a terrible way,” 11-year-old Lucas Pham told CTV News Toronto.
“My parents, they came from Vietnam, from the Vietnam War, and they went through a lot of hardships and it’s amazing to know that there are many people around the world that face the same types of hardships.”
Marlee Shantz Nguyen, another 11-year-old student, said one of the reasons she loved the story was the way it has been pieced together.
“Hana had a story that was amazing but since her brother had survived he could remember all their details,” she said.
“Her story has taught a lot of people about the tragedy.”
Heather Reisman, who is the CEO of Indigo Books and Music, said the story is one that everyone should feel some connection with.
“It’s significant to me. I am Jewish, but I hope not only because I’m Jewish. The notion of remembering, not just the liberation of Auschwitz, but that Auschwitz was part of a larger reality, a larger story where six million lost their lives,” said Heather Reisman who spoke at the webcast event.
“If each of us thinks if we lost just one person that we love, how would that change our life?”
As the keeper of her family’s artifacts, Brady also shared photos, drawings and personal items during the webcast.
