¼â½ÐÊÓƵ Hosts Annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony, April 24
On Monday, April 24, 2017, ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ University will host the annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony at 4:30 p.m. in the Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola. The event is free and open to the public.
This year’s ceremony will feature Hungarian Holocaust survivor, Betty Deutsch. Born Elizabeth Egri in 1927, Mrs. Deutsch lived to escape the terror of Auschwitz-Birkenau but lost both parents, brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins.
In 1941, the German Army invaded Hungary resulting in the men in her family to be taken from their home, eventually returning from labor camps. The family was then gathered with the 700 remaining Jews in her town and sent to a ghetto before she and her family were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
On May 2, 1945, Betty and the remaining survivors she had been traveling with were rescued by the International Red Cross. She and her sister, Freida went to Sweden after the war ended. At the age of 23, Deutsch arrived in New York City and although she did not speak English, found a job in a sewing factory. She moved to Bridgeport and settled in ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ, and in 1954 married her husband, Andrew. She has two children and two grandchildren.
The service is vital to help students understand the scope of this tragic era, while serving as a reminder of the millions of individuals who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis. Six candles will be lit in memory of the six million Jews who died during the Holocaust. The service is co-sponsored by the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies and Campus Ministry.
For more information about the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies, or call (203) 254-4000, ext. 2066.
