The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation is inviting students in grades 7-12 in Mahoning, Trumbull, and Columbiana counties, and Western Pennsylvania, to enter its annual Holocaust Writing, Art, and Multimedia contest.
The project is held in conjunction with Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), which will be observed on Tuesday, April 18.
Yom Hashoah is an internationally recognized day set aside for remembering all victims of the Holocaust. It reminds society of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred, and indifference reign.
The theme for this year’s contest is “Stars Without a Heaven – Children in the Holocaust.”
One-and-a-half million children were murdered during the Holocaust. The fate of the children is particularly tragic. Very few managed to hide, and even fewer survived. The death toll exacted by the Nazi regime on the Jewish children of Europe is one of the most appalling chapters in the history of the Holocaust.
The Nazis targeted all Jews for death, but the mortality rate for children was especially high. Only six to 11 percent of Europe’s prewar Jewish population of children survived as compared with 33 percent of adults.
Among the small number of European Jewish children still alive at the end of the Holocaust, thousands survived because they were hidden. With identities disguised, and often physically concealed from the outside world, these youngsters faced constant fear, dilemmas, and danger under a variety of difficult circumstances.
Some children were moved from hiding place to hiding place, sometimes living for months or years in cramped spaces such as closets, attics, cellars, or even sewers. Others, left abandoned, were forced to rely on their own resourcefulness in order to survive.
Guidelines for submissions
- Writing can be a narrative composition or piece of poetry, no more than 1,500 words, double-spaced, and submitted in Microsoft Word.
- Art should demonstrate originality and a creative representation of the theme, using paint, crayon, pencil, or another similar medium. Art submissions must be on 8.5″ by 11″ white paper.
- Multimedia submissions must be no longer than five minutes and will be accepted in the form of YouTube videos, Instagram stories, or TikTok posts, submitted electronically or on a flash drive. Submissions must demonstrate originality and a creative representation of the theme and are as substantial in form and content as a written entry, though in accordance with the possibilities of these newer forms of media.
Compliance with the contest guidelines is mandatory for submissions to be considered. The deadline to enter is Monday, April 3. Submissions should be emailed to Nancy Sentelik at the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation,
ns*******@je**************.org
. Guidelines can be found at jewishyoungstown.org….
Presentation of contest awards will be made during the Community Yom Hashoah Commemoration Ceremony at noon on Tuesday, April 18 at the Mahoning County Courthouse. Contact the Jewish Community Relations Council at 330-746-3250, ext. 108 for more information.
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