Stories of Suitcases: Young Girls from Auschwitz to Canada

Abstract

Stories of Suitcases: Young Girls from Auschwitz to Canada

Over the past 15 years, Canadian children’s literature has published a series a works for the young where ethnic writers of various nationalities give voice to histories of silence due to their difficult integration in the new world. In particular we find stories of children forced into hiding from a humiliating and misunderstood past as that of the Jews who managed to escape the horrors of the Holocaust. Two recently published books, The Old Brown Suitcase by Lillian Boraks-Nemetz, who survived the Holocaust in Warsaw and Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine, described as «documentary fiction for children» have moved the world for the simplicity yet intensity with which they describe this devastating moment in the history of the Jews. These are books which can teach children about the horrific events but they can also offer alternative readings on issues of racism, identity and diaspora. By learning of the cultures, traditions and languages of others, children are encouraged to be observant, receptive and more open-minded, a first step in eradicating stereotypical prejudices and intolerance towards those considered ‘diverse’.

DOI: 10.1400/197527