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Annual Composition Prize
Paul Seideman Annual Composition Prize
Background
Paul Seideman is a Holocaust survivor. Paul established a competition for Year 10 and Year 11-13 students at New Zealand secondary schools where the Holocaust is part of the curriculum.
As a young Jewish boy in then Czechoslovakia, Paul suffered enormously but managed to survive for several years in the Nazi German concentration and labour camps during World War II. After liberation, Paul emigrated to Australia and then New Zealand. He now lives in a Wellington retirement home.
To commemorate the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet Army on 27 January 1945, Paul funded an annual competition.
Background
Paul Seideman is a Holocaust survivor. Paul established a competition for Year 10 and Year 11-13 students at New Zealand secondary schools where the Holocaust is part of the curriculum.
As a young Jewish boy in then Czechoslovakia, Paul suffered enormously but managed to survive for several years in the Nazi German concentration and labour camps during World War II. After liberation, Paul emigrated to Australia and then New Zealand. He now lives in a Wellington retirement home.
To commemorate the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet Army on 27 January 1945, Paul funded an annual competition.
2020 Year Level Categories and Topics
Years 7-8
The Holocaust began with words from a minority view, and silence from the majority. Describe how you and your school prevent bullying and hate speech.
Year 9 - 13
The events of the Holocaust led to unfathomable suffering amongst millions of people throughout Europe. Explain how the idea of resilience helped Holocaust survivors throughout the events from 1933 - 1945.
The Holocaust began with words from a minority view, and silence from the majority. Describe how you and your school prevent bullying and hate speech.
Year 9 - 13
The events of the Holocaust led to unfathomable suffering amongst millions of people throughout Europe. Explain how the idea of resilience helped Holocaust survivors throughout the events from 1933 - 1945.
2020 Winners
Year 7-8: Maayan Bialik, Year 7, Remuera Intermediate School, Auckland
The winner of the Year 7-8 age category Maayan Bialik, in Year 8 at Remuera Intermediate School in Auckland, wrote about how in her school, teachers work to teach both the bully and the bullied in order to not just stop bullying from happening, but to prevent it from happening in the future. It is her belief that all Kiwis but my brave to stand up against hate and bigotry and embody the values of democracy.
Year 9 - 10: Felix Steiner, Year 10, Rongotai College, Wellington
Felix Steiner, a Year 10 student at Rongotai College in Auckland, won the Year 9-10 category, writing about Holocaust survivors different forms of resilience in the face of Nazi aggression. He highlighted non-violent resilience of continuing to practice their Jewish faith, even in the midst of the the concentration camps. One of the highlights from Felix's submission was the examination of the resilience of survivors in rebuilding their lives, even after the atrocities they were subjected to by the Nazis.
Year 11-13: Leah Burger, Year 13, Rosehill College, Auckland
In her exceptional take on resilience, Leah Burger, Year 13, Rosehill College, Auckland, analysed different literature written by survivors. Through literary critique and imagery explanation, Leah showed how the act of writing their stories and sharing them with the world shows the resilience of survivors. Their willingness to share their experiences, and the details in which they relive those experiences each time they share them with others, is a shining example of the ability of the human spirit to survive in the face of such calamity.
On Wednesday, 27th January 2021, Maayan, Felix, and Leah orated their winning compositions at a prize giving at the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day parliamentary reception, hosted by Hon Grant Robertson, Deputy Prime Minister.
They spoke before an audience of distinguished guests, including Paul Seideman and other Holocaust survivors and descendants, Wellington Mayor Andy Foster, Robyn Baker - Chair of New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon, members of the interfaith community and diplomatic representatives.
Congratulations and well done Maayan, Felix, and Leah!
HCNZ administers this annual competition with much appreciation to Mr Paul Seideman for his endowment of such a successful initiative.
We would like to thank all the students who submitted an entry, and acknowledge the high standard of research and composition. It is heartening to see the youth of Aotearoa engage with topics from the Holocaust with support from their teachers and parents.
They spoke before an audience of distinguished guests, including Paul Seideman and other Holocaust survivors and descendants, Wellington Mayor Andy Foster, Robyn Baker - Chair of New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon, members of the interfaith community and diplomatic representatives.
Congratulations and well done Maayan, Felix, and Leah!
HCNZ administers this annual competition with much appreciation to Mr Paul Seideman for his endowment of such a successful initiative.
We would like to thank all the students who submitted an entry, and acknowledge the high standard of research and composition. It is heartening to see the youth of Aotearoa engage with topics from the Holocaust with support from their teachers and parents.
2019 Winners
2019 Winners of the Paul Seideman Annual Composition Prize - Rosetta Tanner, Orlando Ye, and Sophey Jenkins with Hon Grant Robertson, Deputy Prime Minister (host of the Parliamentary reception), Holocaust survivor and endower of the competition Paul Seideman, and Miriam Bookman, Deputy Chair of the Holocaust Center of New Zealand. UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January 2020.
