The United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula, Inc

Presents

The 14th Annual Holocaust Writing Competition for Students

2015

The wings of hope carry us, soaring

high above the driving winds of life.

~Ana Jacob

Special Thanks This competition is made possible through the generosity of

The Sarfan/Gary S. and William M. Nachman Philanthropic Fundof the UJC Endowment Fund.

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A Note from the Holocaust Writing Competition Chairs

Sandy Katz and Helaine Shinske

Dear Teachers,

Thank you for opening this booklet and taking the time to familiarize yourself with our Holocaust

Writing Competition. As retired educators, we know how difficult and time-consuming it is to

attempt a project that is not sanctioned by specified curriculum directives. To those of you who

have participated in the past, thank you for knowing the importance of teaching tolerance to your

youngsters and enabling them to confront the horrors of the Holocaust, cruelty and bigotry

wherever found. We are delighted when we see many familiar names of teachers each year. For

those of you considering using this tool for the first time, we welcome you to our program.

Someday we hope to meet you all!

We would like to emphasize some of the directions that you will find on the following pages.

Remember also, if you have class sizes that are significantly smaller than 22 students, please let us

know so that we may consider sending you a class set of books for your efforts. No one should be

penalized for small classes in this day and age!

gSome currently published books you might like to read:

~Life in a Jar, Jack Mayer

~All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

~The Postmistress, Sarah Blake

g Please make sure each student has submitted two copies of his or herentries stapled individually.

g Make sure their names do not appear on the papers themselves, only on the cover sheet.

g It would also shave off hours when we code the entries if you couldalphabetize the students’ names according to theprompts they select.

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ATTENTION TEACHERS!

Earn Books For Your Classroom Simply By Submitting Your Students'

Work to The Holocaust Writing CompetitionAll teachers who submit at least 22 original student entries may choose one title from the following lists. Fill in the

information below and return this page with your students' entries. If you teach smaller classes, please call us

regarding the number of entries we might accept to qualify for this program.

All entries must meet competition guidelines. We will deliver the books to you at your school. If there is another

book related to teaching tolerance that is not on the list, or other educational materials you would like, please notify

us, and we will consider your request. Please note that the books are presented to the teachers for the school’s use.

Circle one title from the following:

Middle School Books

1. Friedrich, Hans Peter Richter2. Jacob’s Rescue, Malka Drucker3. Tunes for Bears To Dance To, Robert Cormier4. Number The Stars, Jane Lowry5. Upon The Head Of The Goat, Aranka Siegel6. Kinder Transport, Olga Levy Drucker7. The Man From The Other Side, Uri Orlev8. The Cage, Ruth Minsky Sender9. A Place To Hide: True Stories Of Holocaust

Rescues, Jane Pettit10. The Shawl, Cynthia Ozick11. Clara’s Story, Clara Isaacman12. The Devil’s Arithmetic, Jane Yolen13. The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank14. The Wave, Todd Strasser15. Maus, Art Spiegelman16. Night Crossing, Karen Ackerman, Elizabeth Sayeles17. Thanks to my Mother - Schoschana Rabinowitz,

James Skofield. 18. Behind the Bedroom Wall, Laura Williams, A. Goldstein19. Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During

the Holocaust, Dorene Rappaport.20. Parallel Journeys, Eleanor Ayers, Alfons Heck(with), Helen Waterford(with)21. Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps, Andrea Warren.22. Island on Bird Street, Uri Orlev, Hillel Hawkin (translator)

High School Books 1. Mila 18, Leon Uris2. Sophie’s Choice, William Styron3. Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi4. Gentle Hands, Ruth Kerr5. A Scrap of Time, Ida Fink6. Never To Forget, Milton Meltzer7. Rescue, Milton Meltzer8. The Hidden Children, Howard Greenfield9. Night, Elie Wiesel10. The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank11. The Wave, Todd Strasser12. Coming Evil, Vivian Velde 13. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Please print all information clearly.

Full Name of Teacher_______________________________________________________________

Full Name of School________________________________________________________________

Complete School Address_____________________________________________________________________

Street City/Town Zip

Email Address____________________________________________ School Telephone___________________

Subject Teaching__________________________ Class Size ______

This cover sheet should accompany all students’ entries. For questions, please contact Helaine Shinske - 865-7288 or Sandy Katz - 868-7704 - Co-Chairs,

Holocaust Writing Competition Committee.

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Are you preparing your students for the SOL tests?

This competition can assist you in preparing your students for the SOL by addressing the following SOL skills for both Social Studies and Language Arts/English.

Social Studies SOL Skills

· Identify, analyze, and interpret primary source documents, records, and data, includingartifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, journals, newspapers, historical accounts, and art toincrease the understanding of events and life in the United States.

· Evaluate the authenticity, authority, and credibility of sources.

· Formulate historical questions and defend findings based on inquiry and interpretation.

· Communicate findings in analytical essays and/or comprehensive papers.

· Develop skills in persuasive writing with respect to enduring issues.

· Apply geographic skills and reference sources to understand how relationships betweenhumans and their environment have changed over time.

· Interpret the significance of excerpts from famous speeches and other documents.

Language Arts/English SOL Skills

· Read and understand information from varied sources.

· Apply knowledge of resources in preparing written presentations.

· Credit the sources of both quoted and paraphrased ideas.

· Use writing to interpret, analyze, and evaluate ideas.

· Develop narrative, literary, expository, and technical writings to inform, explain, analyze,or entertain.

· Collect, evaluate, and organize information.

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The Holocaust Writing Competition For Students

The competition is open to students from Gloucester, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg/James City County,

York County, Smithfield, Suffolk, and surrounding areas.

One of the primary goals of this writing competition is to encourage young people to apply the lessons ofhistory to the moral decisions they make today. Through studying the Holocaust, students explore theissues of moral courage as well as the dangers of prejudice, peer pressure, unthinking obedience toauthority and indifference. This competition provides students an opportunity to think and expressthemselves creatively about what they have learned.

Prizes Will Be Awarded In Each Category As Follows:

Middle School Divisions (Grades 6, 7, and 8) High School Divisions (Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12)

First Place: $150 First Place: $150Second Place: $100 Second Place: $100Third Place: $75 Third Place: $75

Winners will be honored at the annual community Holocaust Remembrance program, Yom Hashoah, onThursday, April 16, 2015 at 7:00 PM at the Jewish Community Center, 401 City Center Boulevard,Newport News. Booklets with the winning entries will also be distributed at the program.

If you would like additional copies of the guidelines call the UJCVP, 930-1422 or by email atunitedjc@ujcvp.org.

If you have any questions about this competition, please contact Helaine Shinske - 865-7288 or Sandy Katz - 868-7704 or email Linda Molin at lmolin42@gmail.com.

You may also download a PDF of this booklet from our website www.ujcvp.org and follow the link.

Winning entries may be published, exhibited, or reproduced on our website and in publications of theUJCVP. If you do not want your work published, exhibited, or reproduced, you must notify us in writingat the time you submit your entry. Authors of the winning essays will be asked to provide their entries tothe UJC electronically (if possible) for inclusion in the winning entries booklet distributed at the YomHashoah program.

Deadline for entries:

On or Before

Friday, February 27, 2015 - 4:00 PM

Please note: The street address for the Jewish Community Centerhas been changed to 401 City Center Boulevard. The JCC is still inthe same location with a new street name and number. The new City

Center Boulevard runs from Jefferson Avenue to WarwickBoulevard and also crosses Nettles Drive.

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WRITING COMPETITION GUIDELINESMIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL DIVISIONS

Read Carefully

1. Select one of the activities presented and write a piece of creative or expository writingfollowing the instructions for each. Entries may be up to three pages in length and must betyped and double spaced.

2. Include a cover page with the following information on both copies:a)The division you are entering, Middle School or High School, and the activity you are

addressing.

b) Your full name, home telephone number and address including zip code, and youremail address.

c) Grade, teacher’s full name, and school

3. Cite all sources.

4. Failure to comply with the following rules will result in disqualification.a) Two complete copies of your entry must be submitted.b) Only one entry per student will be accepted.c) Activity choice must be cited.d) Entries must be received by deadline.

Teachers: It would be helpful if entries were submitted in alphabetical order.

Judging will be based on the following criteria:1. Work is original, cohesive, and insightful.2. There is proper use of language including grammar and spelling.3. Instructions and guidelines are followed.

Entries will not be returned.

All entries must be delivered to the United Jewish Communityon or before 4:00 PM, Friday, February 27, 2015

401 City Center Boulevard, Newport News, Virginia 23606(Office hours M-Th 8:30 AM-5:00 PM, Friday 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM)

(757)930-1422

To ensure impartial judging, do not put your name or other identifying information onany page other than the cover page. Staple all pages together in the upper left handcorner with the cover page first. (2 complete copies required.)

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The ButterflyPavel Friedmann 4.6.1942

The last, the very last,

So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.

Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing

against a white stone...

Such, such a yellow

Is carried lightly ‘way up high.

It went away I'm sure because it wished to

kiss the world goodbye.

For seven weeks I've lived in here,

Penned up inside this ghetto

But I have found my people here.

The dandelions call to me

And the white chestnut candles in the court.

Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.

Butterflies don't live in here,

In the ghetto.

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The butterfly speaks to Pavel:

I was born on a daisy leaf in the window box of your house in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Shortlyafter my birth, I saw you for the first time.

It was love at first sight! You clapped your chubby hands in delight when you saw my beautifulgolden wings.

You reached out to touch them but I flew a short distance away…and I watched you.

You grew taller. It was time for school. You worked hard and did well. You were a goodstudent; a fine and creative writer.

I was proud of you as I watched you grow into a thoughtful, caring young man. One day anangry soldier knocked on the door of your home. A short time later, you followed your motherand father out of the house. Your parents carried small suitcases. They were very sad. I watchedthem…and I followed you.

Your family walked to the middle of town with many, many other sad people with suitcases.Walls went up behind you. You were in a ghetto. You were not permitted to go beyond the walls.The population grew and grew as food became more and more scarce. As your soup got thinner,your hopes got thinner. You were so thin and frail I could almost see through you! Pavel, in yourpoem you wrote that butterflies do not live in ghettos. I was there. I did not desert you; you hadstopped looking for me.

Angry soldiers became frighteningly familiar. After years of despair, the angry soldierscommanded that the families congregate at the train station. They boarded a very crowded train.I watched them…and I followed them. As the train passed your childhood home I could see myreflection in the tears that rolled down your face…as I watched you.

After traveling for hours, I watched as you and the others left the train: exhausted, hungry, dirty,and miserable. The sign at the train station said Terezin. Terezin looked pretty on the outside butit wasn’t pretty at all; here were angry soldiers shouting as the people stumbled into lines. Youwere separated from your mother: never to see her again. I watched as your beautiful, dark curlswere shaved from you head. I watched your despair as you became even sadder, thinner,hungrier.

Pavel, I followed as you were transported to Auschwitz. I watched as you worked from dawn todusk, moving rocks, building walls. But then you were told to stand in line with some otherprisoners and march to the showers. Many prisoners walked into those showers; no prisonersever walked out. Pavel, my precious friend, I could watch no longer.

ggggg

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Let us imagine that hope is a beautiful golden butterfly that is always present and alwaysjust beyond our reach. Pavel lost hope. But there was still hope for others who were

imprisoned, humiliated and tortured by the Nazis. As you write, keep in mind that therewere those who survived while they clung to hope.

WRITING PROMPTS

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Choose one prompt from the choices below

EXPOSITORY

1) Research the Warsaw ghetto to enable you to describe what Pavel mighthave experienced.

2) Write an essay that describes the reaction of the people in the ghetto whostop seeing butterflies as Pavel does and those who still have hope.

CREATIVE

1) Write a dialogue between Pavel and the butterfly that begins with thebutterfly asking Pavel, "Why did you stop seeing me?"

2) You are the butterfly. In a poem, rap, story or journal entry describe whatthe butterfly learned while following Pavel.

In memory of Pavel and all children whoselives have been snuffed out by hatred.

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HIGH SCHOOL

Choose one prompt from the choices below

Expository

1) Describe the different types of illusion the Nazis created at Terezin andAuschwitz.

2) Is there evidence that hope survived in either Terezin or Auschwitz?

Creative

1) What are the characteristics of the butterfly that caused Pavel to useit symbolically? In a stream of consciousness, narrative poem or rap explainhow Pavel arrives at his choice.

2) Pavel chose a butterfly to represent his hope. What would you choose as asymbol of your hope and why? Describe your choice in a poem, rap, storyor journal entry that represents your symbol of hope.

3) You are the butterfly. In a poem, rap, story or journal entry describe what thebutterfly learned while following Pavel.

Weep with me for those who died too soon.

~Irena Sendler ~

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www.holocaust-trc.org/www.facing.org/www.holocaust-history.org/www.jfr.org

www.ushmm.org/www.wiesenthal.com/www.yad-vashem.org.il/

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Holocaust Related Web Sites

This is an extraordinary website to help you with your research:http://www.holocaust-trc.org

Holocaust Related Books

g Prospective entrants should consult the catalog in their school library.

g Key to abbreviations: Books suitable for middle school students (MS); for high school

students (HS). Books available at eight public libraries: Gloucester Co.(G), Hampton

(H), Newport News (NN), Poquoson (P), York Co.(Y), Williamsburg Regional (W),

Christopher Newport University (CN), College of William and Mary (WM).)

Biography I Promised I would Tell, Sonia Weitz, Published August 1st 1993 by Facing History and

Ourselves National Foundation, MS, HS, Available on the web.

PoetryHolocaust Poetry, compiled by Hilda Schiff, 1995. MS, HS [NN, P, W, Y]

HistoryBachrach, Susan. Tell Them We Remember, 1994. MS [All eight libraries.]Bauer, Yehudah. A History of the Holocaust, 1982. MS, HS [G, NN, W, CN, WM]Byers, Ann. The Holocaust Overview, 1998. MS [G, Y, W] Chaikin, Miriam. A Nightmare in History: The Holocaust 1933-1945, 1987. MS [G, H, NN, P, Y, W]Gilbert, Martin. The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe during the Second World War, 1985.

MS, HS [H, NN, Y, CN, WM]Landau, Ronnie. The Nazi Holocaust, 1994. MS, HS [H, NN, W, WM]Meltzer, Milton. Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust, 1976. MS, HS [All eight libraries.]Rossel, Seymour. The Holocaust: The Fire That Raged, 1989. MS [NN, P, W]

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“A Lifetime of Caring”

United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula, Inc.401 City Center Boulevard, Newport News, VA 23606

Telephone: (757) 930-1422Fax: (757) 930-3762

Email: unitedjc@ujcvp.org

Competition Email: lmolin42@gmail.com

website: http://www.ujcvp.org