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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT GAIL OSTROW AT 203-366-3722

HCC OBSERVES HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE WITH ALL-DAY EVENT MONDAY, APRIL 28

BRIDGEPORT – Housatonic Community College will observe Holocaust Remembrance Day with an all-day observance Monday, April 28.

The remembrance, sponsored by HCC’s Diversity Committee, will be an interactive event, featuring video clips, computer web sites, posters, artwork, music, photo collages, graffiti boards for “silent conversations” about the exhibit, poetry readings, and opportunities to write, draw, and create a memorial – all designed underscore the horrors of the Holocaust. Survivors of the Holocaust will be on hand to describe their experiences.

“ Holocaust Remembrance Day was created to remember the victims of the Holocaust and remind Americans of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred and indifference reign,” said HCC professor and event coordinator Gail Ostrow. “It is essential that the crimes committed then are not forgotten or repeated anywhere in the world.”

Two area survivors of the holocaust, Zelig Preis and Alex Ogrodowski, will speak about their experiences and answer questions. Preis, an art student at HCC, has made a number of his drawings about these experiences available to the exhibit.

“ The Holocaust teaches us that democratic societies can only continue to exist when they treat people justly and respect the rights of all individuals and communities as well as those of other people and nations,” Ostrow said.

The Holocaust Remembrance, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room A101 at the college, which located less than 150 yards of I-95 (Exit 27) and Rte 8 (Exit 1) in downtown Bridgeport.

With a six-year-old campus in the heart of Connecticut’s largest city, Housatonic is one of the country’s fastest-growing public community colleges. Since it moved to the new downtown campus in 1997, Housatonic’s enrollment has increased 70 percent. According to the most recent statistics, released by the Washington D.C- based American Association of Community Colleges, Housatonic was the Northeast’s fastest-growing community college in the 1,000-plus students category.

In response to increased enrollments and changing workplace needs both regionally and nationally, Housatonic has increased the number of programs offered from 43 to 63 since moving to its new campus.