Holocaust survivor receives key to city of Ammon
More than 70 years after the Holocaust, survivors say they are speaking to the last generation that will hear first-hand accounts of what life was like inside Nazi concentration camps.
Holocaust survivor and author of “Four Perfect Pebbles,” Marion Blumenthal Lazan said books and documentaries can’t begin to depict what really happened during that time.
“The constant foul odor, the filth, the constant horror and fear surrounded by death is indescribable. There is no way that this could be put accurately into words or pictures,” said Lazan. “It’s just vital that they understand that it actually did happen. This wasn’t something that took place centuries ago.”
On Monday, Lazan spoke to more than 1,000 students at Hillcrest High School. She gave students a glimpse of what her life was like during the more than six years she spent in refugee, transit and prison camps throughout WWII. But Lazan said her purpose is to provide more than a historical lesson. She said the real lesson is one of character.
“Be kind, good and respectful to one another; that is the basis for peace. That’s one of the lessons, not to follow the leader blindly,” she said. “There’s so little that we can do against the negativity in our world but how we treat, behave and reach out toward one another, that is entirely up to us.”
As an inspiration of determination, strength and hope, Lazan was presented with a key to the City of Ammon by Mayor Dana Kirkham.
Lazan will be the keynote speaker at Idaho Falls High School’s Multicultural Week celebration, which starts Tuesday. She will also be speaking Tuesday evening beginning at 7 at the Civic Auditorium.
