Holocaust Survivor Visits Central Illinois

Author Marion Lazan Returns to Reach
More Young People with Her Story

Marion Blumenthal Lazan, a Holocaust survivor who is the author of the young-adult book “Four Perfect Pebbles,” will return to central Illinois Oct. 22-26 to tell her first-hand account of her family’s experiences in Hitler’s camps. She will speak in eight schools and at two public events: at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007, at Wesley United Methodist Church in Charleston, 2206 W. 4th St., and at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, at Arthur Jr./Sr. High School, 301 E. Columbia, Arthur.

Lazan’s return visit scheduled for last October had to be canceled after she broke her ankle in a fall. A powerful speaker who travels around the world to ensure that as many people as possible hear a survivor’s account of the Holocaust, Lazan spoke in central Illinois in April 2005 at the time of a WILL-TV premiere of a documentary about her life.

Her story is one Anne Frank might have told had she lived, Lazan said. Her family experienced six-and-a-half years of horror in Hitler’s camps, living an incredible story of near escapes, dashed hopes and tragedy. Finally they made it to America in 1948 using the tickets paid for 10 years earlier. At the time of her liberation at age 11, Lazan weighed 35 pounds.

She feels a calling to tell her story to as many people as possible before all the witnesses to the Holocaust are gone. Lazan, who lives in New York and went to high school in Peoria after coming to the United States, stresses the importance of positive thinking as well as creativity and inner strength to overcome adversity. Her memoir, “Four Perfect Pebbles,” is in its 11th printing and is taught in schools worldwide.

The event at Wesley United Methodist Church, which is free and open to the public, will include a screening of brief excerpts from a documentary about her life, an address by Lazan, an opportunity for the audience to ask questions, and an open reception.

The documentary, Marion’s Triumph: Surviving History’s Nightmare, airs on WILL-TV at 9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22. It is an unusual Holocaust documentary that speaks to a young generation. Despite the horrors depicted, Marion’s Triumph presents a life-affirming, inspirational narrative of survival, reconciliation and the limits of endurance.

WILL-TV is the sponsoring station for the program, which was being distributed to public television stations nationwide by American Public Television (APT). A teachers’ guide for the program is available at http://www.willkids.org/pdf/Marions_TGuide.pdf.
The program, suitable for ages 10 and up, contains some graphic depiction of atrocities. For more information about Lazan, visit www.will.uiuc.edu/pressroom or her Web site at www.fourperfectpebbles.com.

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