Avon Middle School to Host Author Marion Blumenthal Lazan

AVON, CT – On Thursday, May 24, 2018, Avon Middle School will host Holocaust survivor and author of the award-winning book Four Perfect Pebbles.

Students in grades 7 and 8 will have the opportunity to meet Mrs. Lazan and to hear firsthand about her experiences as a nine-year-old interned with her family in the German concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen, the same camp in which Anne Frank died.

"Over the past decade, Marion Blumenthal Lazan has touched the hearts of Avon Middle School students and staff with her personal story of determination, faith, and hope during one of the darkest times in history,” said Principal David Kimball. “We are so pleased to welcome her back to our school to support our efforts to end bullying, hatred and intolerance, while reinforcing our core values of compassion, curiosity, responsibility and resilience."

While Anne Frank left no writings following her family’s arrest in Holland, Marion Blumenthal Lazan will take students behind the barbed wire to describe in detail what life was like during those harrowing years. She will also explain the events leading up to her family’s incarceration in Bergen-Belsen and its life-challenging aftermath.

Marion Blumenthal Lazan has spoken to hundreds of thousands of students and adults across the globe. Her message is not one of despair. It dwells on the values of determination, perseverance, faith and hope. Her message is one of tolerance and understanding in a still-troubled world.

Mrs. Lazan’s visit has been sponsored by the Avon Middle School PTO. She is scheduled to speak at 1 p.m.