Hallonot, Hebrew for windows, is an annual Coalition for Jewish Education program providing windows into different aspects of the Jewish world. CJE has partnered with the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra to present this year’s Hallonot, “Voices and Views on the Holocaust,” which will feature members of the symphony’s Southwest String Quartet performing pieces composed in the Terezin ghetto, followed by a screening of the film “Inside Hana’s Suitcase.”
The film, a theatrical documentary based on Karen Levine’s best-selling book “Hana’s Suitcase,” begins with the delivery of a battered suitcase to the Tokyo Holocaust Museum. The suitcase came from the Auschwitz Museum and had Hana Brady’s name painted on it. The film follows the search to discover the details of Hana’s life. As small children, Hana Brady and her brother George were sent to Terezin after Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939. A musical score by Alexina Louie and Alex Pauk, coupled with dramatic reenactments, invokes the tragedy of the times. The voices of children from Japan, Canada, and the Czech Republic telling Hana’s story weave throughout the drama.
CJE is a program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. The event will take place Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, followed by a dessert reception. Tickets are $10 and are available at the JCC or online at www.tucsonjcc.org. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information, contact Bryan Davis at the CJE, 577-9393, ext.124 or bdavis@jfsa.org.
