B.C.C. Completes 1.5 Million Button Goal for Holocaust Memorial

It has been nearly 10 years since Bristol Community College in Fall River began collecting buttons as part of a Holocaust memorial.

The idea came from an intern at the school's Holocaust and Genocide Center, Linelle Dean, who wanted to collect enough buttons to represent each child killed in the Holocaust.

That number? An astounding 1.5 million.

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The Fairhaven college student was undeterred by the sheer enormity of the task. One and a half million of anything is a mind-boggling number.

"I remember wondering if that could ever be achieved, but I'm a believer in giving support, so we set it in motion," said the center's director, Ron Weisberger.

Students immediately got to work, placing a collection bucket and asking for button donations. They poured in by the thousands from across the country.

Incredibly, nine years later, Bristol Community College has announced that its goal of 1.5 million buttons has been reached.

Courtesy of Bristol Community College

A Magical Moment

Weisberger described how he felt the moment the final button was counted and the team realized they had reached their goal.

"I was like, we really did this! It was very surprising. And seeing all of them laid out in the gallery was very impactful; each button representing a child who was murdered," he said.

"We're going to be making a sculpture out of them," said Bristol Community College spokesperson Joyce Brennan.

Right now, the buttons are part of a gallery presentation called "Bearing Witness: A Sea of Buttons in Memory of the Holocaust’s Youngest Victims." The buttons have been carefully arranged on the floor, creating a truly remarkable display.

"It's a thoughtful and difficult presentation. It's deeply moving, and I encourage anyone to come and see all of the buttons that will be used to create the sculpture," Brennan said. "Once completed, the sculpture will be displayed outside on a campus quad for all to see."

Work on the sculpture is expected to begin this spring and is slated to be ready for display by September.

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Gallery Credit: Tim Weisberg