THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF

Steven Krulis

Steven Krulis grew up in a world of privilege. His family moved in the highest circles of Czech society, with a grand home in Prague, a country estate, private tutors, tailors, chauffeurs and cooks.

It was an extraordinary childhood. Then the Nazis arrived.

At just 13, Steven was deported to Theresienstadt. At 15, he was sent to Auschwitz, where a stranger’s whispered warning in the selection line helped save his life. He went on to survive torture, starvation, typhoid, operations without anaesthetic and the infamous death march.

His younger sister Misa was fighting her own battle for survival. Orphaned at 12, she made her way across war torn Europe searching for Steven. Somehow, they both survived.

Still teenagers, and with both parents gone, Steven and Misa boarded a migrant ship bound for Australia with little more than a suitcase and $10 between them.

A STORY ALMOST LOST TO HISTORY

The suitcase that survived

For decades, Steven rarely spoke about what he had endured during the Holocaust. His family knew only fragments of his story.

Then came an extraordinary discovery.

A photograph surfaced of a suitcase held in the Auschwitz archives. Written across the front was Steven’s name. It was the suitcase he had carried as a teenager when he was deported to Auschwitz.

In 2024, Steven’s son Tom travelled to Auschwitz and was granted access to the suitcase storage room. Among the thousands of suitcases that remain, he found his father’s.

He held it in his hands.

For Tom and his family, the suitcase became more than an artefact from the past. It was a tangible connection to Steven, to what he had endured and to a story that could no longer be allowed to disappear.

That remarkable discovery helped bring Steven’s story back to life and ultimately led to The Boy with a Suitcase.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A complete manuscript. A story ready for the world.

The Boy with a Suitcase began as a private family project. Tom Krulis wanted to preserve his father Steven’s remarkable story so that his children and grandchildren would know what he had endured, and the man he became despite it all.

Drawing on firsthand interviews, Steven’s Shoah Foundation testimony and rare family archives, the memoir tells Steven’s story in his own voice, with the extraordinary experiences of his younger sister, Misa, woven throughout.

It is a story of a world lost, unimaginable survival and two young people forced to begin again on the other side of the world.

Above all, it is the story of family, resilience and a legacy that might so easily have been lost.

Memoir | Non-fiction | Holocaust history | Complete manuscript | Approx 50,000 words.

TOM KRULIS

Steven’s son Tom shares the extraordinary discovery that helped bring his father’s story back to life, from finding evidence of Steven’s suitcase at Auschwitz to the journey that followed. He also reflects on the responsibility of keeping his father’s story alive and why remembrance matters now more than ever.

MISA SOLAR

Steven’s younger sister Misa shares her memories of their childhood, the war that tore their family apart and the remarkable journey the siblings made together after the Holocaust. She recalls their escape from Czechoslovakia, their passage to Australia and how, at just 19, Steven became both brother and guardian to his 14 year old sister.

JOSH FRYDENBERG

Josh Frydenberg reflects on the importance of Steven’s story and the lessons it carries for future generations. Drawing on moments from The Boy with a Suitcase, he speaks about Holocaust remembrance, the danger of standing by in the face of hatred and why preserving stories like Steven’s remains so important today.

BERNADETTE SCHWERDT

Author Bernadette Schwerdt shares how a private family memoir grew into something much bigger. She reflects on the extraordinary stories Steven and Misa entrusted to her, the process of bringing their experiences to the page, and the hope that The Boy with a Suitcase will now reach a much wider audience.

PUBLISHING RIGHTS

Seeking the right publishing home for
The Boy With a Suitcase.

The Boy with a Suitcase is a complete memoir, currently privately produced for the Krulis family. It has not been commercially published and is not currently available for general retail sale.

The family is now seeking a traditional publisher interested in acquiring the book and bringing Steven and Misa’s remarkable story to a wider readership.

The completed manuscript is approximately 50,000 words and draws on firsthand interviews, Steven’s Shoah Foundation testimony and rare family archives.

Publishing enquiries are warmly welcomed.

FILM & TELEVISION

An extraordinary true story with powerful screen potential

Spanning pre war Prague, Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and post war Australia, The Boy with a Suitcase is an intensely personal story of survival, family and loss.

At its heart are two remarkable journeys: Steven’s survival through the concentration camps and Misa’s dangerous search for her brother across war torn Europe. Their stories converge as two orphaned teenagers begin a new life in Australia.

The rediscovery of Steven’s suitcase at Auschwitz decades later brings the story full circle.

Film and television enquiries regarding option and adaptation rights are warmly welcomed.

FOR INDIVIDUAL READERS

Interested in a copy?

The Boy with a Suitcase is not currently available for general retail sale. If you would like to obtain a copy, please contact Bernadette directly, and we’ll be happy to help.

GET IN TOUCH

Contact Bernadette

For publishing enquiries, film and television discussions, media enquiries or questions about obtaining a copy of The Boy with a Suitcase, please contact Bernadette Schwerdt.

info@copyschool.com
0419 891 932