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Suitcase starts trip to Jewish book fair

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published October 27, 2006

A suitcase inside the Tokyo Holocaust Education and Resource Center appeared fairly ordinary, but there was nothing simple about its ability to inspire.

In white, block letters, the suitcase bore the name Hana Brady, her date of birth May 16, 1931 and the word "Waisenkind," German for orphan.

Fumiko Ishioka, the center's curator, acquired the suitcase from a Holocaust museum in Auschwitz, the concentration camp where millions of Jews perished under Nazi Germany's rule during World War II. Each day, the children who visited the center wanted to know more about this little girl, Hana.

Ishioka opened the suitcase searching for those answers. Her eyes saw only empty space, but her heart saw a mystery that had to be solved.

Hana's Suitcase is the moving account of Ishioka's search and the story she came to discover as she scoured for clues about the life of this Czechoslovakian girl who perished in a gas chamber at Auschwitz in 1944. It's also a story that is being used to create new bonds in Tampa Bay's Jewish community.

As part of the 2006 Tampa Bay Jewish Book Month, local residents have embraced Hana's Suitcase as part of a community reading initiative. Lisa Robbins, program director of the Tampa Jewish Community Center, said the book's broad appeal made it ideal for their purposes.

"It's very touching, and it's a very easy read for children as well as adults," Robbins said. "We thought it would be a really good book to start with from an education standpoint of teaching the Holocaust."

The community read is just part of the monthlong book celebration, which moves into high gear Sunday with a lecture from author Jeffrey Goldberg at Congregation Kol Ami, 3919 Moran Road.

Goldberg, an award-winning correspondent for The New Yorker, is the author of Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide. He also is speaking at Saturday's St. Petersburg Times Reading Festival.

His book details how Goldberg came to develop a relationship with a Palestinian while working as a prison guard in Israel after moving to the country during his college years.

Activities also will include a Jewish book fair and bazaar on Thursday featuring Tova Mirvis, author of the bestseller The Ladies Auxiliary and The Outside World. The fair begins at 5 p.m. at the Tampa Jewish Community Center, 13909 Community Campus Drive. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m., and RSVP is required. Call (813) 264-9000 for more information.

In addition to her presentation, a number of Jewish-related books will be on sale, including a few humorous titles: A Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt; But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters; and Shalom Y'all: Images of Jewish Life in the American South. The fair also will feature 20 vendors offering items ranging from jewelry to art.

"We've had Jewish book fairs in the past, but this year, we're elevating this event to a new level," Robbins said. "We basically have taken several different components and created one big series."

That's all I'm saying.

Ernest Hooper can be reached at (813) 226-3406 or hooper@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 27, 2006, 06:16:49]