LI Holocaust Survivor Keeps Busy Schedule Visiting Schools

HEWLETT, NY — For Marion Blumenthal Lazan, life was forever altered 80 years ago during the Holocaust. Lazan was trapped in Nazi Germany with her brother and parents. They all survived, even at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Lazan and her husband of 70 years Nathaniel, 91, have called Hewlett home for a half-century.

While Lazan approaches her 89th birthday this month, there's no slowing down her determination. She has a full schedule of virtual or live appearances, discussing the ordeal that scarred her family and the pressing concerns of anti-Semitism in this country.

In January alone, she'll visit schools in Riverhead, Merrick, South Hempstead and Syosset. You can check her website for her full schedule.

"When I speak in schools, I tell the students, 'It's not cool to follow just anyone's lead without checking to see what his or her true intentions are," Lazan said.

When it comes to the rise in anti-Semitism and overall hate in the country, Lazan speaks to that as well.

"Respect to one another must begin in our homes," she said. "We, the adults must pass it on to our children, to the grandchildren and to future generations."

In a lighter moment, Lazan said respect, love and understanding are keys to a lasting marriage.

"It's give and take," she said. "Sometimes it's more give than take. Forget the small stuff."

Lazan penned a memoir "Four Perfect Pebbles, A Holocaust Story" in 1996.

Watch the full "Patch Spotlight" interview below.