Memphis Jewish Federation has announced its fourteenth annual Holocaust Art and Essay Competition for Mid-South and Tennessee students in grades 6-12.
This year’s contest theme is Courage and Hope: The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Child. Middle school students in grades 6-8 are invited to submit artwork, and high school students in grades 9-12 are invited to submit essays. Cash prizes for the top winners are made possible by the Kaethe Mela Family Memorial Fund of the Jewish Foundation of Memphis.
Students are invited to consider how children use courage and hope during the horror? How did children survive in hiding and in camps? How were children affected by their loss of education and childhood? How did children resist? Could a child’s imagination take them to a beautiful place and away from the harsh reality of living through the Holocaust?
“This annual competition serves to raise awareness of the Holocaust in both the Jewish and broader communities,” said Bluma Zuckerbrot-Finkelstein, Executive Vice President of Memphis Jewish Federation. “In our current era of rising antisemitism and rampant unfamiliarity with the Holocaust in the general community, this contest is sorely needed.”
As in previous years, all artwork entered into the competition will be displayed in the lobby of the Memphis Jewish Community Center.
Contest winners will be recognized at the 61st Annual Yom HaShoah Community Commemoration on Monday, April 17, 2023, featuring Tova Friedman. Tova is one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, author of The Daughter of Auschwitz, and featured in many Tik Toks known as Tova Toks telling her story.
The first-place winning essay will be published in the program booklet and the first-place winning artwork will adorn the cover of the program booklet. The winning essay will also be published in The Hebrew Watchman and this blog, and shared on social media.
All entries will be judged according to the following criteria: creativity, passion, and relevance to the topic. Full guidelines and resources for entrants are available here and should be carefully reviewed before submission.
Students should email their essays to HolocaustEssayMJF@gmail.com. Artwork should be dropped off at the Memphis Jewish Federation following the published guidelines including photo of artwork and attachment emailed to HolocaustArtContest@gmail.com. All entries are due by the close of business on Monday, March 6, 2023. Please include entrants’ name, grade, school, and contact information.
For more information, please contact Lorraine Wolf at lwolf@jcpmemphis.org.