Entries sought on Holocaust remembrance

Area high school students are again asked to help the community remember the horrors of the Holocaust. For a third year, a creative writing contest is part of the Spokane Community Observance of the Holocaust. This year’s theme is “Honoring the Rescuers: People Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust.” Contest entrants can read stories about several of those rescuers at the Web site of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum of Israel. They then should compose an essay or poem of 500 to 1,000 words addressing their thoughts about what it took for a rescuer to make that choice, considering the following questions: What are the qualities of a rescuer that you admire? Picture yourself living next door to a Jewish family at the time of the Holocaust – could you/would you become a rescuer? Why or why not? If not, what would it take to persuade you to become one? How are these considerations relevant to your own life? Entries should be double-spaced in Microsoft Word format, with a cover page giving the writer’s name, phone number, e-mail address, school name and grade level. Any referenced material should be annotated at the end. E-mail as an attachment to neveragain-spokane@comcast.net by March 1. The winner will read their composition at the Spokane Community Observance of the Holocaust service on April 19 at Temple Beth Shalom. They will receive $250 and a keepsake commemorating the event from Holocaust survivor Miriam Abramowitz-Ferszt. The winning entry also will be published in The Spokesman-Review.