Chapter 7 Hannah's suitcase

More than sixty years ago, Japan, Germany, and Italy formed the so-called Axis Powers, engaged in expansion and aggression, and caused a worldwide disaster.In Asia, Japan's history of militarism and aggression has become an unforgettable painful memory for many countries. Whether Japanese militarism will be revived has been a persistent topic in Asian countries for decades. I have a good friend who lives in Japan for a long time.Born and raised in China, she naturally takes her motherland's standpoint, and is particularly concerned with relevant developments in Japanese politics. For example, in Japan's post-war constitution, which was formulated with the help of the Americans, it is stipulated that Japan must not have an army, let alone send troops abroad.However, nearly sixty years have passed since the war.Like Germany, Japan is eager to try, trying to prove to the world that they can return to the international community and implement "national normalization", that is, they have the same military as other countries and send troops to participate in military operations such as international peacekeeping.As a country, we are no longer short when we go out.

Just because a country has once embarked on the wrong path that caused world disasters does not mean that it will never turn around forever. Of course, it may change, and it should be accepted after the change. This is common sense.Germany has basically stepped out of the shadow of "World War II" and is accepted by the international community politically.Not only has the German army participated in international peacekeeping operations, but German soldiers have died on the battlefield to maintain peace. But in Japan, its right-wing forces are very active in both civil and political circles, which always makes its neighboring countries feel uneasy about it.The same "national normalization" has passed the customs in Germany, but in Japan, every small move will cause major doubts in Japan and abroad.This friend of mine is one of the doubters.In her view, some of the people educated by the Japanese war had become political animals. Although they were dying, they had a strong sense of participating in politics.They remain a force to be reckoned with in politics.She is wary of these right-wingers.

We are talking about these topics.So I asked: Where do you live, do you think based on your experience that if Japan succeeds in amending the constitution today, the Japanese army will easily rush out to invade tomorrow?She replied without hesitation: Of course not.why?I asked.Today's Japanese young people are not interested in politics and will not actively express themselves in the political arena.But they are no longer war robots educated by militarism sixty years ago.How could they be the "Imperial Army" as soon as you call them. The friend's answer is very interesting.A country is like a person.Although external influences are playing a role, fundamental changes and self-reliance must also rely on internal changes.In Japan, a country with a history of aggression, ordinary children may, in a sense, surpass politicians and create a new future for the country.Therefore, education in Japan sometimes becomes a political topic, such as the revision of history textbooks that everyone is familiar with, and the Japanese Ministry of Education's decision to add "patriotic education" courses in schools.

On the afternoon of chatting with friends, I drove to the store to make purchases.At the door of the store, I turned into the parking space without turning off the radio as usual with the car off.The air conditioner in the car had long since failed, so I rolled down the windows, and in the southern August sunshine, I stayed in my seat until a feature was over. This show happened to be a little bit related to the topic we were talking about.With limited interludes by the show host, the two protagonists tell a true story that spans half the world and half a century.One of them is a young Japanese woman living in the East, and the other is an old Canadian living in the West. They are calling a forever young name together. That is a little girl who lived in Eastern Europe more than 60 years ago——Hannah Bran di.

Hannah's story begins with a suitcase in Tokyo, Japan. A row of simple street houses in Tokyo, Japan, with a few facades. The upper forehead begins with a hexagonal star pattern, followed by a line of small words: Tokyo Holocaust Education Data Center.The six-pointed star is a symbol of the Jews. The English word "holocaust" has become a special term in history, specifically referring to the persecution and massacre of Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II.These houses are actually a small museum.This museum is a private non-profit organization. Its purpose is to let Japanese children understand a catastrophe in European history. Although it happened half a century ago and is far away from half the world, this organization believes that such education is very important Japanese children are important, which can enable them to learn racial tolerance and plant the seeds of peace in their hearts.Just in 1998, a comely young woman, Fumiko Ishioka, took charge of the museum.

The object of the museum's work is children.Shi Zi wanted to exhibit some real objects related to children, but there are no cultural relics of the catastrophe in Japan.Although the catastrophe museums in Europe and the United States have rich collections, they can almost be guessed without asking. They will not take such a risk and lend precious historical relics to an unknown small museum.Shi Zi still decided to give it a try.In the end, all she received were polite decline letters. In the autumn of 1999, she traveled to Poland.Many of the Jewish concentration camps set up by the Nazis were there, including the famous death camp, Auschwitz, where a large number of Jews were massacred with gas chambers.

Shizi went to Auschwitz, found the assistant director of the museum, sincerely stated his desire to educate Japanese children, and made a request to borrow exhibits.The lady seemed impressed by her and agreed to consider it.A few months later, at the beginning of 2000, in the middle of winter, Shi Zi really received a package from Auschwitz.Inside the package, apart from a gas canister used by the Nazis in Auschwitz, everything else was left behind by child prisoners: tiny socks and shoes, a small sweater and a suitcase. This is Hannah's suitcase.On the dark side of the box, there is a thick white paint with the number "625", Hannah Brandy's name and her date of birth:

May 16, 1931.Underneath is a line of striking characters: Waisenkind (German: Orphan).This is the only item Shizi received with his name on it. Museums are waiting for visitors.Shi Zi also organized a small group of children themselves - "Little Wings".They have regular events, publish their newsletter, and expand education on the history of the Holocaust.These children are the "backbone" of Shi Zi. Now, the "Little Wings" are surrounding the suitcase, asking a bunch of questions: Who is the owner of this suitcase, Hannah?Judging from Hannah's birthday and the date of the end of the war, she should have been a teenager when she walked into the concentration camp with this suitcase.So, what happened next?Did Hannah survive?

Shi Zi couldn't answer either.She just swore to the Little Wings kids that she would do her best to find out what happened to Hannah.Shi Zi wrote to the Holocaust Museum in Auschwitz.They wrote back that they were not aware of Hannah's condition.Shi Zi wrote to the Holocaust Museum in Israel, and they replied that they had never heard of Hannah's name, but suggested that Shi Zi go to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, USA to inquire.However, the reply from the United States also said that they did not know.Just when she was almost desperate, another text message came from the Auschwitz Museum, saying that they found a list showing that Hannah had been transferred from Theresienstadt (Theresienstadt).They don't know about other situations.

That was March of 2000.Although this is only a brief clue, Shi Zi is still very excited.After all, it was the only solid information she had.She started looking for information, reading everything she could find about Theresienstadt.This place name, which she was not familiar with before, gradually became clear from the fog.It turned out that that was the name given to a Czech town by the Nazis.It was originally called Terexin, a lovely town with two old castles built in the 19th century to imprison military and political criminals.It was built beautifully and lovely by the Czechs living there.After the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia, the town was walled off and guarded by soldiers, turning it into a Jewish ghetto.The small town of 5,000 inhabitants was overcrowded with Jews who had been forced out of their homes. During World War II, 140,000 Jews lived here, including 15,000 Jewish children.Hannah is one of them.

With the deepening of reading, Shi Zi has a deeper understanding of this concentrated residential area.She read about the horrible things that had happened there, about the Jews who lived there, almost all of them like Hannah, and were later transported eastward to far more horrific places, death camps like Auschwitz.But she also read that so-called ghettos were a less lenient form of Jewish concentration than concentration camps.They have a certain freedom of movement in this small town that is enclosed and guarded by soldiers.At the same time, among the Jewish peninsula in Theresienstadt, there were many famous scholars and artists.They took every opportunity to teach various courses to the Jewish children living there, not only allowing the children to learn knowledge, but also lending art to the children for psychological counseling.They taught music and also taught the children to draw and paint.In the end, Shizi read that in Terezin, there were 4,500 paintings of Jewish children in captivity that were miraculously preserved.Seeing this, Shi Zi's heart pounded: Maybe there are also Hannah's paintings there?She suppressed her excitement and wrote a letter to the Terezin Concentration Museum. A few weeks later, in April 2000, a large envelope arrived in Tokyo from what is now the Czech Republic.The Therezin Museum replied that they had no knowledge of Hannah's experience.However, in the camp that year, a large number of paintings of Jewish children in captivity were indeed hidden.Many of these works are on display at the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Czech capital.From the envelope, she pulled out five photos.Shi Zi couldn't believe his eyes.It can be seen at a glance that it is a child's drawing.One is a colored garden and four are pencil or charcoal drawings.In the upper right corner of each painting, it says: Hannah Brady. This summer, the exhibition "The Catastrophe in Children's Eyes" carefully organized by Shi Zi Finally on display.As a small exhibition in a small folk museum, the number of audiences it has attracted is much larger than she imagined.Moreover, there were also adults who came, so the exhibition should be said to be a success.Among them, Hannah's suitcase and her paintings are the most attractive to the audience.Of course, everyone will ask, what kind of child is Hannah?what does she look likeWhat happened?Shizi couldn't answer these questions.She wrote to the Therezin Museum to inquire again, and they wrote back that they only had these paintings, but they did not know the story of the children who painted them. Terezin, Terezin, this name has been lingering in Shi Zi's mind.She knew that this was the only place where it was possible to solve the mystery of Hannah's suitcase.She decided to go there herself.But the Czech Republic is thousands of miles away, and she doesn't have the travel expenses. In July, the opportunity finally came.She was invited to a conference in the UK.It's not that far from the UK to the Czech Republic. On the morning of July 11, 2000, Shi Zi finally arrived in the town of Terezin.However, she had to rush back to Prague that night, and the plane back to Japan was in the early morning of the next day, so her time was limited.Unfortunately, she was remiss and didn't call ahead and make an appointment with the museum.It wasn't until she reached the gate of the museum that she realized that there was no one there.It turned out that that day happened to be a local festival, and the museum was closed. Shi Zi sat in the hall of the museum in great dejection.Just not knowing what to do, she suddenly heard a sound from a certain office in the distance, she followed the sound, and sure enough, she found someone in an office.The lady who unexpectedly stayed in the office instead of going home for the holidays was called Ludmila.The determination of the Japanese woman who came from afar touched her, and she wanted to find out Hannah's clues for Shizi as much as possible.She found Hannah Brandy's name and date of birth from the list of 90,000 Jews who had been imprisoned here and then transferred to the East according to the index.Shi Zi carefully checked the list.She found that above Hannah's name was another name of the same surname, George Brady.Could he be Hannah's family?Ludmila judged that it was possible. He was only three years older than Hannah, and he was probably her brother.And the lists made by the Nazis often listed families together. Shi Zi also found that most of the names on the list have a hook mark next to them. She asked what the mark meant?Ludmila hesitated for a moment and replied that none of the hooks survived.Shizi looked at Hannah's name, there was a hook, that is to say, like most of the 15,000 children imprisoned in Terezin, she survived the days here, but not in Austria. Swithin survived.For Shi Zi, this was not a big surprise.But she was still saddened to confirm Hannah's death.She collected herself and continued to check the list.Then she discovered that next to George Brady's name, there was no death hook. Hannah may have a brother, and her brother may still be alive!Shi Zi begged Ludmila to find out more information about George.But Ludmilla works in such a place, she has experienced more disappointments, and she is not so optimistic.She had a point, fifty-five years since the end of the war.George may have changed his name, may have been unknown far from home, or may have died during the years.However, she did her best to help find it.She pulled out another list left by the Nazis, the row of bunks in the house where Georg lived during Terezin's captivity.Due to the crowding, two people sleep on one mattress.Ludmila told Shi Zi that she knew that Kurt Kutuk, the person who slept with George, was still alive and lived in Prague. Time is already tight.Shi Zi had to rush back to the Jewish Museum in Prague to find out about Kurt Kutuk.When Shi Zi arrived there, the museum was close to closing.She found a woman named Michaela Hayek.Michela was very helpful in finding Hannah's paintings.This time, luckily.As soon as Shi Zi said Kurt Kutuk's name, Michela immediately said, I know him, and I will help you find him.She made a series of phone calls and finally found Mr Kutuk's secretary.Today's Kurt Kutuk is an art historian.He was going to leave the country on the plane that night, but the secretary stopped him and said that he didn't have time to connect to the phone.At Michela's insistence, Mr. Kutuk, carrying his luggage, hurried to the museum with only one light on after dark. "Of course I haven't forgotten my fellow sufferer at that time," he said, "and we are still friends today, George Brady, who lives in Toronto, Canada today." In August 2000, the 72-year-old Mr. Brandy received a letter from Japan.He opened the letter, "Dear Mr. Brandy, .From the envelope he took out some photographs, a drawing of little Hannah, and a photograph, of Hannah's suitcase. A month later, Shi Zi finally came to Tokyo from Toronto with his eagerly awaited reply.She opened the envelope in the office and couldn't help screaming excitedly.People flooded into the office, wondering what was going on.Shi Zi murmured, what a beautiful girl that is.In her hand was a picture of Hannah.She started to cry.She finally calls out Hannah, a real Czech girl. In the 1930s, Hannah's family lived in the middle of Czechoslovakia, a beautiful town called Nove Mesto.Hannah and her brother were the only Jewish children in town.However, they went to school with other children, had many friends, and had a good time.Their parents loved the arts and ran a small shop for a living.They are very busy, but try to spend time with their children, it is a very warm home. In 1938, at the age of seven, Hannah began to feel uneasy in the atmosphere around her.Behind their backs, their parents listened to the bad news from Germany on the radio at night.There the new Nazis were persecuting the Jews.Then, with Germany's partial invasion of Czechoslovakia, bad news loomed for the persecution of the Jews. On March 15, 1939, German troops occupied the entire territory of Czechoslovakia.The lives of Hannah's family were changed forever. Hannah's family, like all Jews, first had to declare all their property.Afterwards, they were banned from cinemas and from any sports or entertainment venues.Then the Hannah siblings lost all their friends. When Hannah was about to start third grade in 1941, Jewish children were barred from school.Hannah is sad: I will never be a teacher again.That used to be her biggest dream. Hannah's parents try to comfort the child.But they knew that things were much more serious.In March of that year, the Gestapo ordered Hannah's mother to report for duty, and she left the child, never to return.On Hannah's birthday, her mother sent a special birthday gift from her prison, a heart-shaped necklace made of saved bread.Father takes care of them alone.One day, he brought back several yellow six-pointed star marks.He had to tell his children that they had to wear the humiliating badge whenever they went out.The Hannah brothers and sisters were even more reluctant to go out.But home is not safe either.In the autumn, there was a violent knock on the door outside, and their father was also taken away by the Nazis.That left Hannah ten and George thirteen.They were led to their home by a kind uncle.Uncle is not Jewish, but it is dangerous to adopt Jewish children.He gave the two children the last piece of family warmth. In May 1942, when Hannah was eleven years old and George was fourteen years old, the Nazis issued a notice ordering them to report for duty.They were then sent to the Theresienstadt Jewish ghetto. Before leaving, Hannah dragged out a brown suitcase from under the bed, which was the suitcase that led to this story.Hannah and her elder brother carried their respective suitcases, took the train first, then walked several kilometers strenuously, from the train station to the Theresienstadt residential area.When registering at the gate, the Nazi soldiers wrote down Hannah's name and date of birth on the lid of the box, and added a note coldly: "Orphan" because there were no parents accompanying her. In Theresienstadt, Hannah was forced to live separately from her brother.But they were still able to find opportunities to meet.During the three years in the residential area, Hannah and her brother watched their elderly grandmother, who was also taken from Prague, die soon after in poor living conditions. In the autumn of 1944, Nazi Germany was close to collapse.They began to expedite the transfer of Jews from the ghetto to the death camps.First George was sent away.Thirteen-year-old Hannah suddenly lost her brother, who was dependent on her for life. This suitcase became the last link between her and her family.Finally, Hannah also received the notice of being forwarded.Her luggage is simple, only the box.Inside are some of her clothes, a favorite painting she drew, and a storybook given to her by the children in the residential area.She has nothing but a glimmer of hope: maybe, she can catch up with her brother George ahead; maybe, she can be reunited with her parents there.With that in mind, she picked up her suitcase. In the middle of the night on October 23, 1944, Hannah and many Jews stumbled from the train to a platform amidst bursts of horrific shouts.Under the glare of the searchlights, they could barely open their eyes.Hannah and some of the girls were immediately taken away, and armed soldiers shouted orders: Leave the boxes on the platform! Terrified, Hannah let go.Her suitcase fell on the hard and cold platform. On that dark night, they were sent directly from the train platform to the gas chamber.Hannah didn't even have time to know: she had caught up with her beloved brother, George was being held here; she had found her father and mother, In 1942, Hannah's parents, Karel and Makota, were also killed here. This is Poland.Here is Auschwitz concentration camp. Ms. Karen Raven of Radio Canada, who produced this recording program, later wrote a book "Hannah's Suitcase" based on this program. I was quite surprised to find out that this book is intended for children between the ages of nine and twelve.She obviously shares the same idea as Shi Zi: as a child, one should be exposed to some negative lessons of human history, even specific examples of misery and suffering, and use this as a starting point to learn tolerance and peace towards differences.When the children sympathized with what happened to Hannah, they would ask why; they would remember that she was persecuted just because she was Jewish, just because she was born in a different family from others, it should not be, it was unfair of. The reason why I am surprised that this book is aimed at children is that although I do not understand child psychology, I instinctively feel that it is too early for children to face the miserable life in this way.While reading, I felt that Karen Raven took great care in her writing, and she tried to avoid overstimulation as much as possible.I am still a little confused, and feel that such an education must be very cautious.I wish there were more child psychologists working on subjects like this.Preserving children's mental health should trump all other considerations. This made me think that in some countries that have had negative experiences, history education for children and even teenagers is actually a very difficult subject.I think that in Japan, there are some non-government organizations that pay attention to children's catastrophe education, with good intentions. They went to distant countries to borrow historical materials instead of directly using the materials of the Japanese invasion at the same time, and they had their own considerations.As a young child, you have to directly face the reality of the ugliness and tragedy created by your own nation, country, and predecessors. Such an impact will bring too much psychological distress.The story is farther away, but the truth is still there, but it avoids complicated troubles from being introduced into childhood prematurely.When children grow up, they can further understand what happened in their own country on the basis of childhood stories. Human history has a lot of negative experiences, even in times of peace, every country has a lot of negative realities.People need to inherit history, learn the lessons of history, and face reality.At the same time, as children and adolescents are educated, they must be alert to large-scale psychological harm.Emotions such as sadness and anger are the basis of a sense of justice, but once they are excessive, they can easily go to extremes and reject rationality.The purpose of history education is to bring about a healthy society, so that the new generation can have a happy life and a healthy mentality.They should be a humorous, wise, happy, self-respecting, and imaginative generation, not a generation of tragic, angry youth.Otherwise, there may not be fewer, but more problems in this society. In Tokyo in March 2001, Shizi and her children finally welcomed Hannah's older brother George Brady, who also brought his daughter, seventeen-year-old Lara Hannah.In Japan more than half a century later, he re-saw the special relic of his sister Hannah: the suitcase.He bowed his head and wept sadly.However, after a few minutes, he regained his composure.He felt that his sister Hannah's wish had finally come true.She finally became a teacher and educated so many children.George, Hannah's brother, as a Holocaust survivor, his post-war experience also expresses something to Japanese children today.He told them that he had been to many places over the years, and he always carried his most precious family photo album, which was preserved for him by his aunt and uncle. In 1951, he immigrated to Canada and had a happy family.He succeeded in rebuilding his life.He told everyone that what he is most proud of is that despite everything he has gone through, he is able to move his life forward. For him, George told the children in Japan, the most important values ​​he learned from his ordeal were: tolerance, respect and compassion.He believed that this was what Hannah wanted to tell everyone. Perhaps, it is possible to transform extremely negative lessons into positive life values.This is also worth learning from. PS: Until May 2003, the touring exhibition organized by Shizi was exhibited in six places in Japan, with more than 60,000 visitors.