First Selectman Mike Tetreau announced today that the Town of Fairfield Holocaust Commemoration Committee has announced that the featured speaker at this year’s Holocaust Commemoration will be Endre (Andy) Sarkany.

Mr. Sarkany was born in Budapest, Hungary and, as a child, lived in the Budapest ghetto. Mr. Sarkany lived through not only the Nazi occupation of Hungary, but also the subsequent Communist regime, before escaping from Hungary after the Hungarian uprising in October, 1956. He immigrated to the United States, where he secured his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and went on to work for McDonnell Douglas and IBM. Mr. Sarkany is now a resident of New Haven and over the past ten years has been speaking to students about his personal experiences during the Holocaust, living under the brutality of the Soviet regime in Hungary, and finding a home in the United States.

The Town’s annual Holocaust Commemoration will take place on April 25, 2018 at First Church Congregational, 148 Beach Road in Fairfield. The Commemoration begins at 7:30 p.m. and, in addition to Mr. Sarkany’s presentation, will feature the Chamber Singers of the Fairfield County Children’s Choir and the Chamber Orchestra from Fairfield Warde High School.

In addition, survivors of the Holocaust and children of survivors will take part in a moving candle-lighting ceremony to honor the memories of the millions of Jews and non-Jews who died at the hands of the Nazi regime during the Holocaust.

This year’s event will be Fairfield’s 35th annual Holocaust Commemoration. It is not only the Commemoration of the longest standing in the area, but the Fairfield event has also become the largest commemoration of the Holocaust in the area, attracting not only citizens of Fairfield, but also residents from all of the nearby communities.

A reception and refreshments will follow the conclusion of the Commemoration service. There is no charge for this event and the public is encouraged to attend.

Each year’s Commemoration is planned by the Holocaust Commemoration Committee which is an official committee of the Town of Fairfield and consists of more than thirty members of the community coming from diverse backgrounds and religious faiths.

For more information, please contact Committee chair George Markley at 203-259-1177 or at GCMarkley@aol.com.

The photo shows, left to right: First Selectman Mike Tetreau and Holocaust Commemoration Co-Chairs George Markley and Rev. Charles H. Allen, S.J., Fairfield University Chaplain and Special Assistant to the President, standing outside First Church Congregational where the 2018 Holocaust Commemoration will take place.