Holocaust Education Contests

We believe that everyone should know about the Holocaust. Holocaust education programs provide education and resources to help educators and students study the history of the Holocaust.

The Council for Holocaust Education exists to assist and coordinate the Holocaust educational efforts of teachers and students in the greater Tulsa area and beyond.

The Council focuses on Holocaust commemoration and education of the Tulsa community through several venues.  Among these are:

  • Hosting the annual Interfaith Yom Hashoah Commemoration event

  • Hosting the Kristallnacht Remembrance event

  • Kristallnacht and Yom HaShoah Art Contests

  • White Rose Essay Contest

Please find information about the contests and their respective events below

Note: Contest and corresponding event dates and times are subject to change. Please check back here for any updates.

Updated 1_18_2023: Yom Hashoah Art Contest and White Rose Essay packet revised

Updated 2_2_2023: White Rose Essay packet revised

2022 kristallnacht art contest

Congratulations to our 2022 Kristrallnacht Art Contest winners

High school division:

1st place – Lauren McCormick of Edison High School;
Sponsoring Teacher Julie Thomas
2nd place – Greyson Gursky of Cascia Hall; Sponsoring Teacher Ariana Brandes
3rd place – Cadence Kinney of Broken Arrow High
School; Sponsoring Teacher Brett Gray

Middle school division:

1st place – Charlie Hensley of Rejoice Christian School; Sponsoring Teacher Anita Yocum
2nd place – Rachel Purifoy of Rejoice Christian School; Sponsoring Teacher Anita Yocum
3rd place – Lorelei Efaw of Cascia Hall; Sponsoring
Teacher Zac Livingston

2023 yom Hashoah (holocaust) art contest

All Oklahoma Middle and High School students , grades 6-12 are eligible to enter the contest.

Deadline to reserve space for art entries:  Monday, April 3, 2023

Entries in the 2023 Yom HaShoah Art Contest should represent the theme of the commemoration:  Moral Courage:  The Story of the World War II Ritchie Boys, with an emphasis on the Oklahoma Jewish Ritchie Boys soldiers. Student artwork should reflect a response to the courage displayed by the Ritchie Boys or any other courageous response during the Holocaust.

The exhibit will be displayed at the 2023 Yom HaShoah Commemoration held at Temple Israel, 2004 East 22nd Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma,  April 20 at 7:00 p.m.  This commemoration is open to the general public and there is no charge to attend.

2023 White Rose Memorial Essay Contest

The Tulsa Council for Holocaust Education’s Fifteenth Annual White Rose Memorial Essay Contest For Middle and High School Students

Submission Deadline: February 27, 2023

2022-2023 ESSAY PROMPT:

Consider the following:  Moral Courage involves standing up for your beliefs and values even at the risk of your reputation, emotional anxiety, social isolation, employment or even your life.  Holocaust survivor Fred Gross said of the morally courageous: “They had the moral courage to stand up…they were not bystanders; they were human beings.” 

 Your job as a writer is to:

  1. Research two (2) individuals who exhibited moral courage during the Holocaust and explain how their lives and actions fit the definition of moral courage. Example:  How did standing up for their values and beliefs impact their reputation, and their emotional well-being?  Did it cause social isolation, affect their employment or the length of their lives. 
  2. Next, examine one contemporary individual (within the past 5-10 years) whose life and actions fit the definition of moral courage. Describe how standing up for their values and beliefs altered this person’s life.
  3. As a personal response, share a story about when you acted in a morally courageous manner. Did your actions affect your reputation or your emotional well-being?  Did it cause social isolation or loss of employment?  Discuss the consequences or rewards of your choice.

 

The top 10 students selected for outstanding essays in middle and high school will be inducted into the Friends of the White Rose – Tulsa Region at a special recognition ceremony in May 2023. Winning essays will be posted on our website: www.jewishtulsa.org.