Holocaust author to speak in Merrick

Holocaust survivor and renowned author Marion Blumenthal Lazan will be speaking in the Clubhouse of the Merrick Road Golf Course on Clubhouse Road in Merrick on Sunday, May 1 at 7 p.m.

It will be part of a special Remembrance Day program hosted by the Town of Hempstead. Lazan’s memoir, “Four Perfect Pebbles,” recalls the devastating years that shaped her childhood.

Following Hitler's rise to power, the Blumenthal family -- father, mother, Marion, and her brother, Albert -- were trapped in Nazi Germany. They managed eventually to get to Holland, but soon thereafter it 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 that included Westerbork in Holland and the notorious Bergen-Belsen in Germany. Though they all survived the camps, Walter Blumenthal, the father, succumbed to typhus just after liberation.

It took three more years of struggle and waiting before Marion, Albert, and their mother at last obtained the necessary papers and boarded ship for the United States. Their story is one of horror and hardship, but it is also a story of courage, hope, and the will to survive.

"She is really a unique woman that is out not only to spread the word about the Holocaust, but also spread the word of peace and tolerance,” said Barbara Badler, the Coordinator of Cultural Arts for the Town of Hempstead.

The event is free of charge and seating accommodations will be handled on a first-come, first serve basis.