Names Not Numbers

Marion Blumenthal Lazan

Bremen, Germany

Westerbork Transit Camp

Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

1934

Marion Blumenthal Lazan

Bremen, Germany

1934

Marion was born in December 1934 in Bremen, Germany. She lived with her parents and brother, Albert. Although they had the necessary papers to emigrate, they remained in Germany because they didn’t want to leave Marion’s grandparents behind, who were unable to leave.

In 1938, during Kristallnacht, Marion’s family survived the horrors of the night.

Her father was taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp, leaving her mother alone with the children for three weeks. Fortunately, her father was released because of their emigration papers, and soon after, the family fled to Holland.

From 1939 to 1944, Marion and her family found temporary safety in Holland, but their relief was short-lived when the Nazis invaded and captured the country.

rom 1939 to 1944, Marion and her family found temporary safety in Holland, but their relief was short-lived when the Nazis invaded and captured the country. The family was sent to various camps, including Westerbork, and eventually Bergen-Belsen. Through the efforts of an aunt in Israel, they were slated for exchange with German prisoners in Palestine. Because of this arrangement, they were placed in a better part of Bergen-Belsen.

However, the exchange never occurred, and they were returned to the main part of the camp.

On April 23rd, 1945, the Germans sent Marion and her family on a train towards the east. The train carried its passengers for two weeks without any food, water, medicine, or sanitation. One-fifth of the people on the train died during the journey. After this harrowing ordeal, they were liberated by the Russians.

Tragically, Marion’s father died of typhus six weeks after their liberation. Marion, her mother, and Albert survived and returned to Holland. Marion and her brother spent time in a youth Aliyah home. When it was time for them to make Aliyah in 1947, their parents were not allowed to accompany them, and her mother did not want to be separated from her children. As a result, the family waited for three years before they could come to America.

On April 23rd, 1948, exactly three years after their liberation, Marion and her family arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey. From there, they moved to Peoria, Illinois, with the assistance of HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society).

In 1953, at the age of 18, Marion married Nathaniel Lazan. Together, they had three children. Today, Marion is the proud grandmother of nine grandchildren and the great-grandmother of 11 great-grandchildren.

Names Not Numbers

Marion Blumenthal Lazan

Marion Blumenthal Lazan

The End