Students invited to enter Holocaust writing contest

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Students in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, and in Western Pennsylvania, are invited to enter a Holocaust Writing Contest, sponsored annually by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation.

The theme for this year’s contest is “1945: Stories of Liberation.”

Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, to be commemorated this year April 16, is an internationally recognized day set aside for remembering all victims of the Holocaust and for reminding society of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred and indifference reign.

In keeping with historical themes set by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps, this year’s contest topic addresses why remembering the past for the sake of the future is one of the greatest lessons of the Holocaust.

On Jan. 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz-Birkenau and liberated about 7,000 prisoners, most of whom were ill and dying. It is estimated the Nazis sent 1.3 million people to the complex. Of these, the camp authorities murdered 1.1 million.

As allied soldiers were closing in on Germany in spring 1945, they encountered dozens of concentration camps and were suddenly confronted with the reality of Nazi atrocities.

Students from grades seven through 12 in public and private middle and high schools are invited to submit an original piece of poetry and/or narrative composition on this theme in three categories: grades seven and eight, grades nine and 10 and grades 11 and 12.

Each category will receive one award for poetry and one for narrative writing. Honorable-mention awards will also be given in each category.

All entries must by typed or printed, double-spaced on one side of numbered pages, up to 1,500 words. Each entry will be judged on originality, content, appearance and adherence to the theme and must be accompanied by a title page containing this information: student’s name, home address and telephone number; student’s school address and telephone number; teacher’s name; and grade.

The deadline is March 20. Although submissions may be mailed, students are encouraged to submit entries via email in the Microsoft Word format.

Writings may be sent to the Jewish Community Relations Council, 505 Gypsy Lane, Youngstown, OH 44504-1314, or emailed to jcrc@jewish-youngstown.org. Presentation of awards to the winners will be made during the Community Yom Hashoah Commemoration Ceremony at the Mahoning County Courthouse, 120 Market St., at noon April 16. Winners and their teachers will be contacted in advance.

For information about the writing contest, call the Jewish Community Relations Council at 330-746-3251.