Find Your Inspiration
Soon after their liberation from the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, Holocaust survivors Viktor Frankl, Elie Wiesel, and Thomas Buergenthal published Man’s Search for Meaning, Night, and A Lucky Child respectively. Their books analyze their and other prisoners’ encounters in concentration camps, and, most importantly, they provide perspectives from which we can all learn.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Yad Vashem, the USC Shoah Foundation, and numerous other online resources offer a large selection of survivor testimonials and documented history. These stories offer unique insight on the impact of our daily choices and why we must avoid intolerance, hatred, racism, and bigotry as individuals and as a society.
How to Participate
This program is open to all middle and high school students in the State of Florida commencing with the 2014-15 school year.
- Begin by watching or reading Holocaust survivors testimonials.
- Select a testimonial or other historical reference that inspires you. This will serve as your primary resource for understanding, analysis, and evaluation of the Holocaust and how the lessons from this period have an impact on your thinking and your future.
- Reflect on this piece of history, its meaning to you, and how it may impact your future. Why is this piece meaningful to you? How could you adapt it and take its meaning into your future? Submit your answers to these questions (and other related reflections you may have) in the form of an essay, a poem, a short film, or a visual art piece.
Submission Criteria
Submissions will be accepted December 15, 2014–February 1, 2015. The online application form will be available on this website during that time.
Each student may enter a maximum of one submission per category (i.e., one essay, one visual art piece, and one film). Group projects will not be accepted; only one student per submission.
Your name, school, and email address should not appear within the content of your submission.
Writing
- an essay or a poem of no more than 500 words
- double-spaced
- 12 pt. font
- accepted file formats: .doc, .docx, .pdf
Visual Art
- a two-dimensional image of any variety (a digitally created image, digital photograph, or a photograph of an original art piece)
- accepted file formats: .jpeg, .bmp
Film
- running time not to exceed five minutes
- credits should be prepared but not saved as part of the submitted file
- accepted file formats: .mp4, .mpeg, .mov
The Prize
Six prizes will be awarded: one in each of the three categories listed above for BOTH high school and middle school participants.
The winners (three middle school students and three high school students)—along with their respective teachers and one parent per student—will be awarded an all-expense paid trip (flights, hotels, and meals) to Washington, D.C. to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and other historic sites at the conclusion of the school year. During their visit, they will be invited to participate in meetings with national and international dignitaries. The winners will also be invited to the awards ceremony at Nova Southeastern University on March 21, 2015.
Every student participant will receive a participation certificate.