It takes someone very special to be able to keep close to five hundred Stimson eighth-graders quiet and attentive for over an hour?
On Monday morning, that someone special was Marion Blumenthal Lazan. Ms. Lazan is the author of Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story. It is the story of and the incredibly moving first-hand account of her family’s Nazi concentration camp imprisonment and liberation.
Following Hitler’s rise to power, the Blumenthal family – father, mother, Marion, and her brother Albert – were trapped in Nazi Germany. They eventually managed to get to Holland, which soon thereafter was occupied by the Nazis. For the next six and a half years, the Blumenthals were forced to live in refugee, transit, and prison camps, including Westerbork in Holland and the notorious Bergen-Belsen in Germany. Although they all survived the camps, Walter Blumenthal, the father, succumbed to typhus just after liberation.
Ms. Lazan, spoke of sensitivity and patience as she captivated Stimson’s eighth-grade audience. She stressed the importance of positive thinking to overcome adversity, and asked our students to be tolerant of others and not stereotype individuals.
As part of Stimson’s Character Education Program this was a wonderful opportunity for our students to hear this first hand account from a living Holocaust survivor. Thank you PTA Cultural Arts Program for making this possible.
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