Marian Lazan shared her story with us via Zoom for Holocaust Remembrance Day in April 2021.

She shared the experience of her family managing to get to Holland from Nazi Germany, being sent to Westerbork transition center in Holland and then being transported via cattle car to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Bored and surrounded by death, she invented a game of finding four perfect pebbles each day, representing her family.

Marion’s family endured 6 ½ years before they were liberated. Unfortunately, Marion’s father succumbed to typhus a few weeks later. It took three more years of struggle before Marion, her brother and mother were able to get the necessary papers and board ship for the United States.

Their story is one of horror and hardship, but also courage, hope, and the will to survive.

Marion has shared her story with upwards of a million students and adults. Her message of respect, tolerance and education are inspirational.

She has seen firsthand what can happen when people blindly follow a leader and persecute others. “The lessons are so important. If I reached one person, I have done my job.”