Yom HaShoah, also referred to as Holocaust Remembrance Day, occurs on the 27th of the Hebrew month of Nisan. Shoah, which means “catastrophe” or “utter destruction” in Hebrew, alludes to the crimes done against Jews during World War II and The Holocaust. Six million Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust, and this is remembrance day honors those who died during. The Shoah, known as the Holocaust, derives from a Greek phrase that means “sacrifice by fire.”
The Holocaust was the largest manifestation of antisemitism in recent history. Yom HaShoah reminds us of the horrors that Jews and other persecuted groups faced: forced labor, starvation, humiliation, and torture, which often resulted in death. It was a systematic effort to wipe out an entire population from the face of the earth.
This year for Yom HaShoah, Cardozo High School had survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan speak about her experiences. Ms. Lazan shared her story and how she was able to learn from it, as well as educate others and encourage them to share her story with others. This year’s Yom HaShoah commemoration was organized by Assistant Principal Mrs. Kierez and English Teacher Ms. Eshaghian.
Ms. Lazan joined the Cardozo Community via Zoom, which was streamed in every classroom throughout the school during Period 3. “My story is one of determination, perseverance, faith, and above all, hope,” Ms. Lazan said. Throughout her sharing of her story, she discussed her book “Four Perfect Pebbles,” that she published about her time spent in concentration camps during the Holocaust. Her ability to openly speak about what she has endured is truly inspiring and it is important that we as a nation listen and carry her story on so it is not forgotten.
During her speech, she Ms. Lazan shared where she got the title of her memoir from. Four Perfect Pebbles, which is the name of her memoir, has a much deeper meaning. The four pebbles symbolizes, a game she would play to pass time during her time in captivity.
She would search for four “perfect” pebbles to signify the four members of her life; her mother, her father, her brother, and herself. If she were able to find four of the pebbles, this symbolized that they were well and would live and survive. This game that she created helped her because, during the Holocaust, the restrictions were endless. This small but meaningful game kept her in good spirits.
After Ms. Lazan spoke to the school community, a number of Cardozo Journalism students were able to partake in a Q&A session with her. One of the students asked if there were any acts of kindness during the Holocaust that she had witnessed. Ms. Lazan stated that there was a guard in one of the camps that gave her brother an apple. She shared that if he was caught giving a little Jewish boy an apple, he would have been punished—however, if there was one act of kindness she witnessed, there were definitely more.
Another question that was asked was why Ms. Lazan decided to write her book. She stated that the main purpose was to pass on the story of the Holocaust to the future generations. As many Holocaust survivors are getting older and passing, there will be a time when no first person survivors are left to speak on the events that happened. The book is meant to help share the story and prevent it from happening again.
The last question that a student asked was how Ms. Lazan believes society can prevent this from happening again. The survivor stated that we have to have compassion, to be kins and good to one another to create a peaceful world.
As more time passes, we are lucky to be able to hear these stories as we may be the last generation to experience a Holocaust survivor telling their stories firsthand, so we must listen and continue to remember to prevent it from happening again in society.
