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2002 May Family National Art & Writing Contest
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Thousands of shoes confiscated from arriving prisoners at the Majdanek concentration camp.
— USHMM
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Each year the Museum sponsors the May Family National Art & Writing Contest for students in middle and high schools across the country. Students are asked to study a different aspect of the Holocaust and answer a question through an essay, creative writing, or artwork.
The contest question, entry guidelines, and an entry form are printed on the contest brochure and may also be found on the contest page of the Museum's Web site. We ask that the entries be the individual effort of the student — no group projects are allowed. A complete entry form must accompany each entry or the entry will be disqualified.
For 2003, the contest question will focus on the themes of the Museum's 10th anniversary: Resistance, Response, Rescue and Renewal. Please check this page in late fall for the contest brochure and question.
During the Holocaust the Nazis and their allies not only carried out not only systematic murder, they also systematically plundered their victims' assets. For example, before victims were gassed at Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Chelmno, Majdanek, and Auschwitz–Birkenau, the SS confiscated all their belongings. First to go were money and other valuables; clothes were next. This mass pillage yielded mountains of clothing. Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek together generated nearly 300,000 pairs of shoes, which were distributed among German settlers in Poland and among the inmates of other concentration camps.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Permanent Exhibition The Holocaust tells the story of the Holocaust through the use of artifacts, photographs, films, and eyewitness testimonies. These shoes are an example of the artifacts that help the Museum teach about the history of the Holocaust and illustrate the victims' experiences.
If you were going to teach others about the importance of studying the Holocaust, what would you show or tell them? Use the Museum's Web site for your research.
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2002 Contest Winners
Division I: 7th Grade, First Place
Holocaust
Art
Edward Elliott
Town School for Boys
San Francisco, California
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Division II: 9th Grade, First Place
The Exhibit
Art
Julia Harte
Head-Royce School
Oakland, California
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Division II: 12th Grade, Second Place
One of a Million
Art
Andrea Perdue
Lawrence High School
Lawrence, Kansas
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Division I: First Place Writing
Shoes
Rochelle McConkie
8th Grade
Magothy River Middle School
Arnold, Maryland
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Shoes
...Were they worn by a child
Who hid in the darkest hole,
Or wore a cross to disguise herself...
Click to read more
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Division I: Second Place Writing
Euthanasia
Kyle Taylor
9th Grade
Emily Gray Jr. High School
Tucson, Arizona
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Division II: First Place Writing
Painful Memories
Zack Hayden
10th Grade
Colonial Forge High School
Stafford, Virginia
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Painful Memories
...Breaking free from the guards, the boy ran to the left. His father watched in horror as the SS guards gunned down his son. The boy fell, slowly and silently, to the ground. Lying there in the dirt, the boy's eyes were cold, dark, lifeless...
Click to read more |
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Division II: Second Place Writing
Transcending Strength
Lindsay Frost
9th Grade
Girls Preparatory School
Chattanooga, Tennesse
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Transcending Strength
...Through learning about the Holocaust and how people were able to overcome the obstacles of hate, fear, strife, and death during this period, one can see the overwhelming strength of the human spirit...
Click to read more |
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Division II: Third Place Writing
Take Action!
Meredith Sellers
9th Grade
Girls Preparatory School
Chattanooga, Tennesse
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