AUBURN - As author, speaker and Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan prepared to leave the stage at Casey Park Elementary School Monday night, she summed up her message of what she hoped most to convey to those in attendance to hear her speak of her harrowing experiences.
Jill Connor / The Citizen
Holocaust survivor and author of “Four Perfect Pebbles” Marion Blumenthal Lazan signs books before her talk at Casey Park Elementary School on Monday evening.
Holocaust survivor and author of “Four Perfect Pebbles” Marion Blumenthal Lazan signs books before her talk at Casey Park Elementary School on Monday evening.
“One of my favorite quotes is by Edmund Burke,” Lazan said. “He said ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.' I hope that by listening all of you here tonight will carry on these stories and share them with your friends and family and that you will not let our past become our future.”
Lazan, who in 1996, along with Lila Perl, authored “Four Perfect Pebbles,” a book about her life during World War II, began with a book signing before taking the stage.
Bob Montgomery, a literacy coach at East and West middle schools, helped organize Lazan's appearance, her sixth in central New York.
“This is an outstanding opportunity,” Montgomery said. “This really is a once in a lifetime event for so many of us to be able to hear her speak.”
Lazan gave a brief background of her life leading up to the war, one similar to other Jews. She said that growing up, she, her parents and brother, Albert, had a comfortable life, with her father in the shoe business, running a store downstairs from their home, until 1935 when the Nuremburg Laws were passed that began the process of isolating the Jewish community.
“That is when the anti-Semitism really began,” Lazan said. “Jewish people could only go shopping at certain times of day and were segregated from the public schools. Non-Jewish people were not allowed to associate with Jewish people. And we had IDs and passports all stamped with a big letter J for Jew.”
As this treatment worsened, Lazan's father booked passage for his family to leave Germany for Holland and then to America.
Lazan said her father encouraged her grandparents to leave Germany also, but they could not be convinced, and passed away in 1938.
Lazan said before this, her father was taken away to Buchenwald.
“We heard terrible things about what was happening,” Lazan said. “We weren't sure if we were ever going to see him again. This was a man who just a few years before had been awarded the Iron Cross from Germany for fighting in World War I. But he was released 10 days later because his papers were in order.”
Lazan and her family did make it to Holland, where they had to wait their turn to board for America, a long process when so many were trying to flee Europe. Lazan said her parents were put in charge of caring for more than 125 children who were waiting to leave.
While she and her family waited, the Nazis were gradually taking power in Europe and were closing in on Jewish families.
Before they could board for America, Lazan and her family were taken to a detention camp in Holland prior to being shipped back to one of the German concentration camps.
“We children were naive,” Lazan said. “We were happy at first for the change of environment from the detention camp. But soon enough we saw the 12-foot high electric fences and saw what they did.”
The camp was segregated into men and women, but occasionally she and her mother did see her brother and father in passing through the fences. Lazan and the other prisoners survived on meager meals of bread and watery soup.
But one time, her mother smuggled some potatoes and salt to make soup. As it was cooking, guards entered for a surprise inspection and the boiling soup was spilled, burning Lazan's leg severely.
“I didn't shout,” Lazan said. “I had learned to be disciplined the hard way. I knew that if the guards knew what we were doing something would happen.”
Lazan passed the time by creating games, including one she called four perfect pebbles.
“It was a superstitious game,” Lazan said. “I told myself that if I could find four perfect pebbles, the four members of my family would make it out OK.”
As Allied forces closed in on the German camps, Lazan and others were put on trains to be taken to the death camps. Lazan said her train traveled for two weeks without food or water and her leg began to worsen, before the Russian army stopped the train and released the prisoners.
Lazan said she was fortunate to receive medical care in time to save her leg, but her father died of typhus several weeks after her family was saved.
Lazan, along with her mother and brother, went to Holland and ultimately to America.
While so much has been written about the Holocaust and World War II, Lazan believes it is important to make future generations aware of what happened, which is what motivated her to write her book and to travel to speak.
“I am grateful I survived in mind, body and spirit,” Lazan said. “I have a husband and three wonderful children that have given us nine grandchildren. But we are the last generation that can pass on these stories first hand and many of you are the last generation that will hear these stories first hand, and it is important to share them and to keep them alive.”
To learn more
For more information on Lazan and her book visit www.fourperfectpebbles.com
Lazan, who in 1996, along with Lila Perl, authored “Four Perfect Pebbles,” a book about her life during World War II, began with a book signing before taking the stage.
Bob Montgomery, a literacy coach at East and West middle schools, helped organize Lazan's appearance, her sixth in central New York.
“This is an outstanding opportunity,” Montgomery said. “This really is a once in a lifetime event for so many of us to be able to hear her speak.”
Lazan gave a brief background of her life leading up to the war, one similar to other Jews. She said that growing up, she, her parents and brother, Albert, had a comfortable life, with her father in the shoe business, running a store downstairs from their home, until 1935 when the Nuremburg Laws were passed that began the process of isolating the Jewish community.
“That is when the anti-Semitism really began,” Lazan said. “Jewish people could only go shopping at certain times of day and were segregated from the public schools. Non-Jewish people were not allowed to associate with Jewish people. And we had IDs and passports all stamped with a big letter J for Jew.”
As this treatment worsened, Lazan's father booked passage for his family to leave Germany for Holland and then to America.
Lazan said her father encouraged her grandparents to leave Germany also, but they could not be convinced, and passed away in 1938.
Lazan said before this, her father was taken away to Buchenwald.
“We heard terrible things about what was happening,” Lazan said. “We weren't sure if we were ever going to see him again. This was a man who just a few years before had been awarded the Iron Cross from Germany for fighting in World War I. But he was released 10 days later because his papers were in order.”
Lazan and her family did make it to Holland, where they had to wait their turn to board for America, a long process when so many were trying to flee Europe. Lazan said her parents were put in charge of caring for more than 125 children who were waiting to leave.
While she and her family waited, the Nazis were gradually taking power in Europe and were closing in on Jewish families.
Before they could board for America, Lazan and her family were taken to a detention camp in Holland prior to being shipped back to one of the German concentration camps.
“We children were naive,” Lazan said. “We were happy at first for the change of environment from the detention camp. But soon enough we saw the 12-foot high electric fences and saw what they did.”
The camp was segregated into men and women, but occasionally she and her mother did see her brother and father in passing through the fences. Lazan and the other prisoners survived on meager meals of bread and watery soup.
But one time, her mother smuggled some potatoes and salt to make soup. As it was cooking, guards entered for a surprise inspection and the boiling soup was spilled, burning Lazan's leg severely.
“I didn't shout,” Lazan said. “I had learned to be disciplined the hard way. I knew that if the guards knew what we were doing something would happen.”
Lazan passed the time by creating games, including one she called four perfect pebbles.
“It was a superstitious game,” Lazan said. “I told myself that if I could find four perfect pebbles, the four members of my family would make it out OK.”
As Allied forces closed in on the German camps, Lazan and others were put on trains to be taken to the death camps. Lazan said her train traveled for two weeks without food or water and her leg began to worsen, before the Russian army stopped the train and released the prisoners.
Lazan said she was fortunate to receive medical care in time to save her leg, but her father died of typhus several weeks after her family was saved.
Lazan, along with her mother and brother, went to Holland and ultimately to America.
While so much has been written about the Holocaust and World War II, Lazan believes it is important to make future generations aware of what happened, which is what motivated her to write her book and to travel to speak.
“I am grateful I survived in mind, body and spirit,” Lazan said. “I have a husband and three wonderful children that have given us nine grandchildren. But we are the last generation that can pass on these stories first hand and many of you are the last generation that will hear these stories first hand, and it is important to share them and to keep them alive.”
To learn more
For more information on Lazan and her book visit www.fourperfectpebbles.com
The Citizens' Say
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maggie8 wrote on May 20, 2008 12:05 PM:
maggie8 wrote on May 20, 2008 12:04 PM: