The Andrus Center for Public Policy brought Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan to Boise, and one of the forums was a free lecture at the BSU-SpEC. Steph and I attended this event.
Marion was from Germany and was 4 years old when they fled Germany to Holland and about 9 years old when their refugee camp in Holland was taken over by the German military. They were then taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration and death camp in Germany when she was 10 was there when the camp was taken over by the Russian military and the prisoners set free.
She shared a child's perspective on camp life. Her main messages were the need for acceptance and tolerance, starting in the home; and also the need to speak up when you see people being wronged. Similar to others Holocaust survivors who have spoken before in Boise - Miep Gies, Elie Wiesel etc.
The SpEC's seating capacity is rated at 435, but the crowd was estimated at 1200!!! There were people standing along the walls, and an impromptu arrangement of people seated in folding chairs on the stage, and another impromptu set up where more people were in the lobby with a projector. The BSU facilities management handled this unplanned overflow extremely well.
An unexpected bonus of the event for me was that we happened to sit right in front of ex Governor Cecil Andrus. I was tickled. He is a man that I admire. I can't think of any politicians that I admire - maybe Frank Church is one other. It seems people of that caliber are few and far between in government. I was thrilled that I got to shake his hand and express my appreciation for the Andrus Center having sponsored this event.
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