Four Perfect Pebbles

On Wednesday, we did something very spontaneous; something that doesn't really happen very much! Mom found out that a Holocaust survivor was speaking in Brimfield, and since we just finished studying the Holocaust, Mom was all about it! So, at 11:00 on Wednesday we headed to Brimfield! We wondered if we were a little crazy at first, but now I think that we all agree: it was worth the hour and a half drive. The trip was even more special because A. Dawn and a few of her children got to meet us there.

Mrs. Blumenthal Lazan and her husband Nathaniel came to visit the Brimfield grade school and  Mrs. Lazan spoke about her experience as a Jew living in Germany in 1938. In 1938 she was only four and that is when the first  Nuremberg laws were issued. At this time, her family began to get paperwork and passports ready to go to America. While they were waiting for the journey, they went and stayed in Holland. It was during this time that the Nazi's invaded Holland and Mrs. Lazan and her family were taken to a ghetto and then eventually a concentration camp: Bergen-Belsen. Amazingly, her mother, father, and brother all survived the camp although her father died of typhus soon after they were liberated.

Before I tell you anymore, I am going to have everyone tell you something that they remember of what she said.

Lily said, "She was very funny at the end and more than once she would say, 'Right? Right!' very fast! She said a bunch of other funny things too. One time while she was in the concentration camp, her mother stole some potatoes and began making soup. It was almost ready when the guards came in to have a search. They tried to hide it and it spilt on Mrs. Lazan's leg. She got a bad burn."

Jared said, "The time she was in the concentration camp she was very lucky to be able to share a bunk with her mother. When they were liberated from the camp, Mrs. Lazan, at age 10, was just 35 lbs. Her mother, at 37, was 60 lbs. Her mother just died last year at the age of 104."

Marcus said, "While Mrs. Lazan was talking about where all she has been, she told us about when she goes to Germany and speaks there, she told us that the kids there can't believe what their ancestors did to the Jews during WWII. She also told us also that she lived in constant fear, that either her mom would not come back after dark, or gas would come out while they were taking a shower ONCE a month!! They couldn't even brush her teeth once that whole time."  

While in the concentration camp, Mrs. Lazan made up a game to play. She made up that if she could find four perfect pebbles, then that meant that each member of her family - Father, Mother, her brother Albert, and her, - would all survive the dreadful camp. Playing this imaginary game helped her through the horror of everything. A while ago, she actually wrote a book of her experiences called Four Perfect Pebbles. If you would like to learn more about Mrs. Lazan or her book, you can visit her website. -Faith

“Four Perfect Pebbles”

Four Perfect Pebbles in my hand
Some made of granite, some of sand.
Found in this dark and desolate land
Four Perfect Pebbles in my hand.

 Mother comforts Albert and me
Father shields us from misery.
No parent’s love can ever erase
This sad and forgotten, lonely place.

Four Perfect Pebbles do I see
One for each member of my family.
I’ll hold them tight, I will not cry
All will live, no one will die.

 If I should lose my precious stones
My secret hiding place will reveal
More perfect pebbles far beneath
These barracks made of wood and steel.

Four Perfect Pebbles do I see
Mother, Father, Albert and me
I count them over one by one
I fall fast asleep, my work…is…done.