Paul Seideman Scholarship for Yrs 7-13
2023 Winners Awarded in Parliament at the UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony.
BACKGROUND
Holocaust survivor Paul Seideman was a great supporter of Holocaust education and remembrance in Aotearoa New Zealand.
As a young Czech Jew, Paul managed to survive the Lodz Ghetto, several concentration and labour camps, including Auschwitz, and a death march, during World War ll. He was liberated at Dachau, aged 17. After liberation, Paul emigrated to Australia, and then New Zealand. Sadly Paul's mother and father died in the Lodz Ghetto, in 1941. and 1942 respectively.
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet Army on 27 January 1945, and to encourage students in Aotearoa New Zealand to engage in Holocaust studies, Paul funded an annual Holocaust essay competition for secondary students, administered by the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand. This was established in 2014, as a 500-word essay on “The Holocaust and its lessons for New Zealand”, and inaugurally awarded on 27 January 2015 at the UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration at Parliament.
Originally for year 10 and 11 students, the Paul Seideman Holocaust Essay Competition grew into the Paul Seideman Annual Composition Prize, with students from Years 7 to 13 submitting entries in a variety of formats to answer the questions posed, awarded in three categories - Years 7-8, Years 9-10, and Years 11-13.
HCNZ is honoured to carry on Paul's legacy and continues to administer this competition, which annually engages hundreds of students across the nation in Holocaust education, and has now become the Paul Seideman Scholarship.
2023 Winners
L to R: The Honourable Nicola Willis, Deputy Leader National Party, Naomi Roberts, Victoria Lettink, Olivia Cammell, Zlata Shapran and Assoc. Prof. Giacomo Lichtner, Deputy Chair, Holocaust Centre of New Zealand. UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration and prize giving, 28 January 2024. Photography by Woolf
For the first time since we started administering the Paul Seideman Scholarship, the 2023 year saw two winners in the Yr 11 - 13 category, and for the first time one winning entry was a painting. Prize giving was awarded during the UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day event hosted in Parliament by the Hon. Nicola Willis.
Well done Victoria (essay), Naomi (poem), Olivia (painting) and Zlata (poem).
HCNZ administers this annual competition with much appreciation to the late Paul Seideman z"l 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, from around the country, and across mediums; from art to music, poetry, essays, and film.
It is heartening to see the youth of Aotearoa engage with topics from the Holocaust with support from their teachers and parents.
Well done Victoria (essay), Naomi (poem), Olivia (painting) and Zlata (poem).
HCNZ administers this annual competition with much appreciation to the late Paul Seideman z"l 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, from around the country, and across mediums; from art to music, poetry, essays, and film.
It is heartening to see the youth of Aotearoa engage with topics from the Holocaust with support from their teachers and parents.
The topic for 2023 was “Whoever listens to a witness, becomes a witness." - Elie Wiesel
Nearly 80 years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust, we are quickly reaching a point where first-person accounts of the events surrounding this horrific time in history will be gone. With ever-increasing reports of rising antisemitism worldwide and in Aotearoa New Zealand, many question how Holocaust education will change when the last survivors pass.
Examine the way in which the loss of the first-generation survivors will impact Holocaust education. Your entry should show how you view the need for continued Holocaust and antisemitism education as well as the importance of such education in creating a more just society.
Nearly 80 years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust, we are quickly reaching a point where first-person accounts of the events surrounding this horrific time in history will be gone. With ever-increasing reports of rising antisemitism worldwide and in Aotearoa New Zealand, many question how Holocaust education will change when the last survivors pass.
Examine the way in which the loss of the first-generation survivors will impact Holocaust education. Your entry should show how you view the need for continued Holocaust and antisemitism education as well as the importance of such education in creating a more just society.
2022 Winners |
L to R: Miriam Bookman, Deputy Chair, Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, Jaymee Davies, Meredith Williams, Amelie Thorpe, and the Honourable Minister Grant Robertson . UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January 2023. Photography by Woolf Year 11 - 13: Jaymee Davies, Yr 11, Hauraki Plains College, Ngatea
Year 9 - 10 : Amelie Thorpe, Yr 10, Hillview Christian School, Christchurch
Year 7 - 8 : Meredith Williams, Yr 8, Queen Margaret College, Wellington
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2021 Winners
L to R: Jaymee Davies, Hon Grant Robertson Deputy Prime Minister, Eden Li and Sophie Ineson.
27 January 2022, prize-giving at Parliament, on UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Photography by Woolf Year 11 - 13: Eden Li, Yr 12, Westlake Boys High School, Auckland
Year 9 - 10: Jaymee Davies, Yr 10, from Hauraki Plains College, Ngatea
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Year 7 & 8: Sophie Ineson, Yr 8, from Southland Girls High School, Invercargill
2020 Winners
L to R: Maayan Bialik, Felix Steiner, Hon Grant Robertson, Deputy Prime Minister (host of the Parliamentary reception) Leah Burger, and Holocaust survivor and endower of the competition Paul Seideman. UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January 2021.
Credit: Photography by Woolf YEAR 11 - 13: Leah Burger Year 13, Rosehill College, Auckland
YEAR 9 - 10: Felix Steiner Year 10, Rongotai College, Wellington
YEAR 7 - 8: Maayan Bialik Year 7, Remuera Intermediate School, Auckland
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2019 Winners
L to R: Rosetta Tanner, Hon Grant Robertson, Deputy Prime Minister (host of the Parliamentary reception), Miriam Bookman, Deputy Chair of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, Sophey Jenkins, Orlando Ye, and Holocaust survivor and endower of the competition Paul Seideman.
UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January 2020. Photography by Woolf Year 11 - 13: Sophey Jenkins, Tararua College, Pahiatua
Year 9 - 10: Orlando Ye, Botany Downs Secondary College, Auckland
Year 7 - 8: Rosetta Tanner, Somerville Intermediate School, Auckland
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