Student Holocaust Writing, Art and Multimedia Contest
“The Power of Words and Images: Truth, Propaganda, and
the Courage to Speak Out.”
Entries due March 31, 2027
The Jewish Community Relations Council invites all students entering grades 7 through 12 for the 2026-2027 school year to participate in the annual Holocaust Writing, Art, & Multimedia Contest. This contest is held in conjunction with the Jewish holiday Yom Hashoah, commemorating all victims of the Holocaust. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, March 31, 2027. Winning students will be recognized in a ceremony at the Mahoning County Courthouse at noon on May 4, 2027.
THE PROMPT
This year’s theme is inspired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda” poster exhibition, which explores how propaganda helped transform prejudice into persecution and ultimately genocide. A reproduction of this exhibit will be on display in the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation Art Gallery at the JCC of Youngstown from April 30-May 10, 2027.
Propaganda is more than misleading information. It is the deliberate use of words, images, symbols, and emotion to shape the way people think, feel, and act. During the Holocaust, the Nazi regime used propaganda to spread antisemitism, create fear, encourage conformity, and convince ordinary Germans to accept discrimination against their Jewish neighbors. Through newspapers, radio broadcasts, films, books, posters, classrooms, and youth organizations, Nazi leaders manipulated public opinion until hatred became normalized and silence became acceptance.
The Holocaust demonstrates that words and images have extraordinary power. They can dehumanize people, justify injustice, and encourage indifference. Yet words and images also have the power to educate, unite communities, inspire compassion, challenge hatred, and defend human dignity.
Today, information reaches us in ways unimaginable during the Holocaust. News stories, videos, podcasts, memes, influencers, and social media posts can travel across the world in seconds. While these technologies allow us to connect and learn from one another, they also make it easier for misinformation, stereotypes, conspiracy theories, and hateful messages to spread rapidly. By understanding how propaganda operated during the Holocaust, we become more thoughtful consumers and creators of information in today’s digital world. The choices we make about what we believe, what we share, and when we choose to speak out continue to shape our communities. The lessons of the Holocaust remind us that recognizing misinformation, defending truth, and upholding the dignity of others are responsibilities shared by us all.
Contest Prompt
Create an original work that explores the importance of questioning information, seeking truth, and using words, images, or actions to stand against hatred and misinformation. Draw upon lessons from the Holocaust to reflect on how individuals can recognize the techniques of propaganda, think critically, choose courage over silence, and consider the responsibility each of us has to seek truth, challenge misinformation, and speak out against hatred and prejudice.
Contest Guidelines
The writing component may be either a narrative composition or poetry, not to exceed 1,500 words, double-spaced, and submitted in Microsoft Word. The art component should demonstrate originality and creatively interpret the contest theme using paint, pencil, charcoal, colored pencil, crayon, digital illustration, photography, or another appropriate medium on 8½ x 11-inch white paper or its digital equivalent. Multimedia submissions, no longer than five minutes, may be submitted in the form of a short film, documentary, podcast, digital story, animation, video essay, or other original multimedia presentation. Entries should demonstrate originality and thoughtful engagement with the contest theme while making effective use of the chosen medium.
All entries—writing, art, and multimedia—must include a title and be accompanied by the following information:
✅Student’s name
✅Home address and telephone number
✅School name, address, and telephone number
✅Teacher’s name
✅Grade level
The submission deadline is Wednesday, March 31, 2027.
Awards will be presented during the community’s Yom Hashoah Commemoration on May 4, 2027 at noon in the Rotunda of the Mahoning County Common Pleas Courts.
For more information, contact the Jewish Community Relations Council at 330.746.3250, ext. 108.
THE HOLOCAUST
The Holocaust devastated Jewish families and communities across Europe. Synagogues, cemeteries, and cultural institutions were destroyed. Entire shtetls (Jewish towns and neighborhoods) were targeted for extermination by the Nazis, with their inhabitants rounded up, murdered, or deported to concentration and death camps. The destruction of the shtetls resulted in the near-total eradication of eastern European Jewry. In many cases, Holocaust Survivors returned to their home towns after liberation to find no one from their families alive.
Though countless families were torn apart, their bonds remain unbroken in memory. Even in the darkest moments, it was love—especially the love of family—that sustained the human spirit. They were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, siblings, cousins, and friends—each one part of a vibrant, close-knit community. By telling their stories, we ensure their legacies live on.
All submissions must reflect the theme and explore the role and impact of family and community in the lives of Holocaust victims and Survivors—before, during, and (for those who survived) after the Holocaust. Entries should demonstrate how family was a source of strength, resilience, or loss—and how these individuals and their loved ones were impacted or remembered.
Students are encouraged to draw inspiration from local Survivor testimonies, which are available for free through the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation - https://www.jewishyoungstown.org/federation/holocaust-survivor-interviews/.
2025 Winners:
Nevaeh Teague
First Place – Poetry Grade 7-8
Akiva Academy
Rylen Primous
Second Place – Poetry Grade 7-8
Lowellville High School
Aria Lubonovich
Third Place – Poetry Grade 7-8
Austintown Middle School
Roei Sigler
First Place – Essay Grade 7-8
Akiva Academy
Christy Huang
Second Place – Essay Grade 7-8
John F. Kennedy Catholic School
Rebecca Sakelaris
Third Place – Essay Grade 7-8
Akiva Academy
Payton Buchan
First Place – Art Grade 7-8
Austintown Middle School
Addison Woodburn
Second Place – Art Grade 7-8
Lowellville High School
Sarah Baquero
Third Place – Art Grade 7-8
Akiva Academy
Adriana Willmitch
Fourth Place – Art Grade 7-8
Austintown Middle School
Trayon Kelley
First Place – Poetry Grade 9-10
Struthers High School
Daniel Ramovs
Second Place – Poetry Grade 9-10
Boardman High School
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Trista Rowe
Third Place – Poetry Grade 9-10
Boardman High School
Rachel DunLany
First Place – Essay Grade 9-10
Boardman High School
Carter Yocum
Second Place – Essay Grade 9-10
Boardman High School
Addison Volosin
Third Place – Essay Grade 9-10
Boardman High School
Kira Carpenter
First Place – Art Grade 9-10
Boardman High School
Hannah Tringhese
Second Place – Art Grade 9-10
South Range High School
Lydia Campbell
First Place – Poetry Grade 11-12
Crestview High School
Lola Gordiejew
Second Place -Poetry Grade 11-12
Boardman High School
Jikyra Smith
Third Place – Poetry Grade 11-12
Campbell Memorial High School
Tessalyn Massey
First Place – Essay Grade 11-12
West Middlesex High School
Julia Forbes
Second Place – Essay Grade 11-12
Boardman High School
A.J. Milhoan
Third Place – Essay Grade 11-12
Crestview High School
Mary Ramovs
First Place – Art Grade 11-12
Boardman High School
Danni Svirbly
Second Place – Art Grade 11-12
West Middlesex High School
Edwin Bonilla
Third Place – Art Grade 11-12
Campbell Memorial High School