Over the past six decades, Oscar 'Osi' Sladek has been regarded as a dedicated and respected professional and cultural / educational leader in Colorado's Jewish community. His positive impact has been considerable. Oscar is a child survivor of the Holocaust from Presov, Czechoslovakia, (now Slovakia) who immigrated to the United States in the late 1950s and settled in Colorado in 1960 with his wife Selma Rosen Sladek. They have four children, seven grandchildren and two great- grandchildren.He is an accomplished composer, musician and singer. After WWII, he emerged as a popular folk artist in Israel where he served in the Israel Defense Forces for three years as musical director and composer of the Northern Command Entertainment Corps. Thereafter, Sladek was a performer on the folk music scene in Hollywood, CA during the late 1950's. In addition to his solo performances, he appeared alongside Rachel Hadass and Theodore Bikel. He and Selma met there, fell in love and moved to Denver where Oscar continued performing. Notably, he headlined the 1960 Colorado Folk Festival at the Denver Auditorium Arena, sharing the stage with Judy Collins, Odetta, Josh White, and other legendary singers.Since that time, Oscar has dedicated his life to Holocaust awareness and education, having been one of the first (and youngest) survivors in Colorado to publicly speak about his life. Osi continues to be one of the state's most prolific speakers, addressing thousands of children and adults of all backgrounds - in schools, prisons, multi-faith organizations, military bases, universities, libraries, government offices and more. His musical performances and public speaking engagements have continued over the past sixty years throughout the Rocky Mountains region, Toronto (Canada) and Southern California. He has also provided steadfast guidance as a community leader who spent the bulk of his career working as executive director of Jewish non-profit organizations.In 2019, Governor Jared Polis presented Osi Sladek with an award honoring his "commitment to inspire understanding, moral courage and social responsibility" at the Mizel Annual Dinner, one of Colorado's largest philanthropic events.
