2008 Woodie Awards
Holocaust survivor speaks
Ashley Moreland/Online Reporter
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Arts and Entertainment
- Page 1 of 2 next >
The sanctuary was packed with people. Some were even standing, sitting on the floor and filling the choir loft.
Jews, Amish families, Catholics, Protestants and perhaps even people of other religions, as well as atheists and agnostics were sitting peacefully together.
This is exactly the scene Marion Blumenthal Lazan wants to create for the world: respect for each other, regardless of religion, race or national origin. We're all human. If nothing else, we share that similarity, she said.
"Treat people as individuals," Lazan said. "Look for similarities; respect differences."
Lazan spoke at Wesley United Methodist church Thursday, October 25, about the six-and-a-half years she spent in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. This experience is what shaped her philosophy about the need for respect for others. She said that she is proud of her faith and heritage, but also recognizes that she must be kind to and tolerant of others.
"That is the basis of peace," she said. "[It's what we need to] prevent our past from becoming your future."
Lazan travels the country telling her story. Even though she has spoken thousands of times, she says that it never gets easier. Every time she tells her story, she feels as though she is reliving the nightmare. She understands the importance of sharing her experience though-she is among the last generation of living Holocaust survivors.
"Mine is a story Anne Frank may have told, had she lived," Lazan said in a clip of the documentary, Marion's Triumpth: Surviving History's Nightmare, which was shown at the beginning of the presentation.
Lazan's story picks up where Frank's ended. Frank and Lazan were at the same camp, Bergen-Belsen. Frank died of typhus in March 1945. Lazan and her family, however, were liberated by the Russian army while they were on a train to an extermination camp in Eastern Europe.
Lazan recalls tripping over dead bodies.
Jews, Amish families, Catholics, Protestants and perhaps even people of other religions, as well as atheists and agnostics were sitting peacefully together.
This is exactly the scene Marion Blumenthal Lazan wants to create for the world: respect for each other, regardless of religion, race or national origin. We're all human. If nothing else, we share that similarity, she said.
"Treat people as individuals," Lazan said. "Look for similarities; respect differences."
Lazan spoke at Wesley United Methodist church Thursday, October 25, about the six-and-a-half years she spent in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. This experience is what shaped her philosophy about the need for respect for others. She said that she is proud of her faith and heritage, but also recognizes that she must be kind to and tolerant of others.
"That is the basis of peace," she said. "[It's what we need to] prevent our past from becoming your future."
Lazan travels the country telling her story. Even though she has spoken thousands of times, she says that it never gets easier. Every time she tells her story, she feels as though she is reliving the nightmare. She understands the importance of sharing her experience though-she is among the last generation of living Holocaust survivors.
"Mine is a story Anne Frank may have told, had she lived," Lazan said in a clip of the documentary, Marion's Triumpth: Surviving History's Nightmare, which was shown at the beginning of the presentation.
Lazan's story picks up where Frank's ended. Frank and Lazan were at the same camp, Bergen-Belsen. Frank died of typhus in March 1945. Lazan and her family, however, were liberated by the Russian army while they were on a train to an extermination camp in Eastern Europe.
Lazan recalls tripping over dead bodies.
Be the first to comment on this story