The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

t all started with a brown Isuilcase arriving in Japan a few years ago. In March 2000, the curaâ€" tor of a children‘s Holocaust education centre received the suitcase as a learning tool to educate children on the horrors and atrocity of the Second World War. The simple white letterâ€" ing on the musty brown case read "Hana Brady, May 16, 1931" with the word Waisenkind, the German word for orphan. Looking to bring a perâ€" sonal touch from the Holoâ€" caust so the children would identify with one of the milâ€" tions of vietims. Fumiko Ishâ€" ioka visited various museâ€" ums in Europe in a despetâ€" ate search to track down who Hana was, and if she was still alive. Hana had died in Auschwitz, an infamous German death camp, but there was hope. Eventually, the search answered her and her stuâ€" dents questions. Her brother, George Brady, who also was detained in the German concentration _ camps. including Auschwitz, sur vived, and was living in Toronto. A simple letter asking George questions about his and his sister‘s experience was mailed from Japan, and the anxious students awail ed a teply Howas a letter that changed George Brady‘s life "It changed my hte a lot.] said Brady, now 76, speaking from his plumbing store in loronto Brady was assigned the duties of a plumber in the death camps, a trade he used to keep himself alive, and eventually moved to Toronto and opened a shop with another Holocaust sut vivor An emotinnal Brady received the letter m August 2000, and a flood of memo VOLVO for lite LOOKING FOR A NEW VOLVO? By Trm Mureny For The Chronicle (3} Holocaust survivor shares emotional story of his sister‘s fate dyah Bâ€"K VOLVO 885â€"5091 Hana Brady, pictured above, always wanted to be a school teacher. ries washed over him, as he recalled his liberation from the camps, being reunited with his aunt and uncle, and the grim news from a friend of Hanas that she had been killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz on the same day she stepped off the train which brought her. It was in October 1944 that the blondeâ€"haired blueâ€" eved Hana was killed, endâ€" ing her dreams of becoming a schonl teacher. Brady sand he was curi ous when he read the letter, and he immediately wanted to know more about the childten invalved with the letter He said he also felt it important to teach them because he wants to help Yuletide Cheer* ‘Hana‘s Suitcase‘ At Heer‘s inferiors Studio & Shoppe.: we ve got all kinds of Christmas Gifts Home Decor Accessories that wll stimulate all your senses! See our wondertul selection of whimsicai Christmas accessones, prints mirrors, and oneâ€"ofâ€"aâ€"kind ornaments ocated at 9 Claremont Avenue in the Belmont Village. Still looking for that perfect gift? Japan face some of the atrocities they committed in the war. "It‘s opening a new way of facing their history," he said. Brady realized Hana‘s wish had come true, she had become a teacher as she had always dreamed. Arriving in lTokyo, he experienced a very emnâ€" tional time as the sight of the suitcase put him in teals. Because of her suitcase and her story. thousands of Japanese children were learning about the Holoâ€" caust and the importance of preventing intolerance to different cultures Brady considered the experience a gift. suemi=tID proto "Once they get interested in one story, they get interâ€" ested in other things," Brady said. "They‘ll start to read, and find out what hapâ€" pened, and hopefully it won‘t happen again." The story of Hana soon became well known, and the novel "Hana‘s Suitcase" was written by Karen Levine., aimed at a children‘s audiâ€" ence, to help carry on the Hana‘s story. The book is now required reading in many school systems in Canada. Lily Pasternak, a member of the Waterloo Region Holocaust Education comâ€" mittee, said it‘s important for speakers such as Brady to educate today‘s children because, in the group‘s opinâ€" ion, the Holocaust is "the ultimate evil carried out against a group of people." "Every lesson we can learn is taught by the Holoâ€" caust." she said, noting there are many other terriâ€" ble things happening. such as brutal wars in Africa and slavery. The group. which has been operating since 1984 in the region aims to educate everybody in the region of the dangers of hatred and racism. "Mostly we try to reach young people, but actually anybody who‘s willing to lisâ€" ten." "It‘s written so that chilâ€" dren around the age of Grade 6 on can really underâ€" stand this," she said. Brady said Hana‘s Suitâ€" case is an excellent learning tool for school children. She said many children can identify with Hana hl'('illl\l' \h(' WilS ]ll\[ a NOr> mal child in a society similar to Canada. "It grabs both adults and children in the sense that it could happen to any of us if we‘re not careful about vot ing for our government to maintain a democracy," she said Brady, talking passion Hana (left} and George Brady, before the Second World War ately about his sister. con siders himself on a mission sma id g ie h #» "It teaches hundreds of thousands of kids about intolerance," he said. The book, which is transâ€" lated into about 27 lanâ€" guages in more than 30 countries, serves a greal purpose in Brady‘s opinion. "It changed my life a lot," he said. "I was a plumbing and mechanical contractor, and never did any public speaking." Since meeting with Fumiko, Brady has travelled worldwide, telling the story of Hana to people in semiâ€" nars, national television, documentaries and numerâ€" ous news articles. "We meet a lot of kids," he said. "I‘m amazed, every second letter says how it chaged their lives, how affected they get, including adults." Brady. who said someâ€" times the public lecturing is more than he can handle, said he is looking forward to coming to Waterloo to speak 9 Claremont Ave., Kitchener M (5§19) 578â€" 190M ns 5330 ext. 3 mmartay tor Nats ial o KX Prvess Debbie Eisenberg, a supâ€" port of the Jewish studies program at the University of Waterloo, said she first met Bradyv in her ski club. "We just knew him as a nice man from our ski club, and suddenly this story came out," she said. With gentle persuasion, Brady agreed to come speak at the university to two groups of 700 children from regional schools this Thursâ€" day, as well as a public semiâ€" nar in the evening. "This is very emotional for him to give these talks," she said. "He does this in his sisâ€" ter‘s memory and honour, because she wanted to be a teacher." Brady will be at the Uniâ€" versity _ of â€" Waterloo‘s Humanities Theatre this Thursday for a public lecâ€" ture at 7:30 p.m. Seating is firstâ€"come, firstâ€"serve.