Paul Seideman Scholarship for Yrs 7 - 13
2022 ENTRIES NOW OPEN!
BACKGROUND
Paul Seideman was a great supporter of Holocaust education and remembrance in Aotearoa New Zealand. Himself being a Holocaust survivor.
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. This was established in 2014 and inaugurally awarded 27 January 2015 under the administration of HCNZ.
Originally for year 10, and years 11 - 13 students, the Paul Seideman Holocaust Essay Competition grew into the Paul Seideman Annual Composition Prize, and students submit entries in a variety of formats to answer the questions posed.
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.
2022 COMPETITION TOPIC:
“Through if be to die, we will fight....We will fight, not for ourselves, but for future generations”
Yitzhak Katsenelson, dramatist and Warsaw Ghetto fighter
While the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ultimately failed to stop the Nazis and their collaborators from deporting the last remaining Jews,
it has inspired generations since to honour the humanity of the victims.
Examine the way in which the memory of the ghetto uprising can be shown through poetry, art, music, dramatisation, or personal memoirs.
Your entry should show how you honour their humanity and their memories, and how it will continue to shape future generations.
FORMAT & ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Entries may be in the form of a poem, a piece of music or art, video/media clip, an essay, or other digital format.
We highly encourage students to explore ways to enter beyond an essay.
Entries can be submitted via email or post.
Maximum 5 minutes in length video/media clip.
Written essays should be submitted in a PDF format, with the following word limits in each category:
Yr 7-8: 500 words maximum - Yr 9-10: 750 words maximum - Yr 11-13: 1000 words maximum
ENTRIES MUST INCLUDE:
Name of student, current year, name of the school, contact phone number, email, and teacher’s name.
Winners will present their entries and receive their prize at the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day function in Wellington on 27 January 2023*
The competition topic and the presentation of winning entries corresponds with 2023 marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
PRIZES WILL BE AWARED IN THREE CATEGORIES: Years 7 - 8; Years 9 - 10; Years 11 - 13.
PRIZE INCLUDES:
- Return flights to Wellington for the student and one guardian.
- Overnight hotel accommodation in Wellington (out of town winners only)
- $500 scholarship
- Framed certificate
DEADLINE: All entries are due by Thursday, 15 September, 5pm.
Due to the number of entries received, only the winners will be notified Wednesday 27 September.
Entries and all queries should be sent to:
Email: educdirector@holocaustcentre.org.nz
Postal: Kristopher Clancy, Education Director, Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, 80 Webb Street, Wellington 6011.
*All entrants must be available for the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2023 and by entering this competition students agree to the inclusion of their work and photos in HCNZ publications and online platforms.
DOWNLOAD INFO AS PDF
Entries may be in the form of a poem, a piece of music or art, video/media clip, an essay, or other digital format.
We highly encourage students to explore ways to enter beyond an essay.
Entries can be submitted via email or post.
Maximum 5 minutes in length video/media clip.
Written essays should be submitted in a PDF format, with the following word limits in each category:
Yr 7-8: 500 words maximum - Yr 9-10: 750 words maximum - Yr 11-13: 1000 words maximum
ENTRIES MUST INCLUDE:
Name of student, current year, name of the school, contact phone number, email, and teacher’s name.
Winners will present their entries and receive their prize at the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day function in Wellington on 27 January 2023*
The competition topic and the presentation of winning entries corresponds with 2023 marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
PRIZES WILL BE AWARED IN THREE CATEGORIES: Years 7 - 8; Years 9 - 10; Years 11 - 13.
PRIZE INCLUDES:
- Return flights to Wellington for the student and one guardian.
- Overnight hotel accommodation in Wellington (out of town winners only)
- $500 scholarship
- Framed certificate
DEADLINE: All entries are due by Thursday, 15 September, 5pm.
Due to the number of entries received, only the winners will be notified Wednesday 27 September.
Entries and all queries should be sent to:
Email: educdirector@holocaustcentre.org.nz
Postal: Kristopher Clancy, Education Director, Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, 80 Webb Street, Wellington 6011.
*All entrants must be available for the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2023 and by entering this competition students agree to the inclusion of their work and photos in HCNZ publications and online platforms.
DOWNLOAD INFO AS PDF
2021 Winners
Jaymee Davies, Eden Li and Sophie Ineson, with Hon Grant Robertson Deputy Prime Minister. 27 January 2022, prize-giving at Parliament, on UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Photography by Woolf
Photography by Woolf
Year 7 & 8: Sophie Ineson, Yr 8, from Southland Girls High School, Invercargill
Sophie is our second video composition winner with her excellent presentation on the impacts of resisters like Sophie Scholl on her and students today.
Sophie is our second video composition winner with her excellent presentation on the impacts of resisters like Sophie Scholl on her and students today.
Year 9 - 10: Jaymee Davies, Yr 10, from Hauraki Plains College, Ngatea
Jaymee’s composition detailed the different ways in which Jews were able to resist the Nazis and their collaborators spiritually, physically, and mentally.
Jaymee’s composition detailed the different ways in which Jews were able to resist the Nazis and their collaborators spiritually, physically, and mentally.
Year 11 - 13: Eden Li, Yr 12, Westlake Boys High School, Auckland
Eden’s composition was a thorough examination of the ways in which Jews and non-Jews resisted the onslaught of the Nazi war machine. His in depth analysis of the ways in which people resisted the Nazis was researched, detailed, and poignant.
Eden’s composition was a thorough examination of the ways in which Jews and non-Jews resisted the onslaught of the Nazi war machine. His in depth analysis of the ways in which people resisted the Nazis was researched, detailed, and poignant.
Well done Sophie, Jaymee and Eden. It was great to host you and your parents in Wellington as part of your prize.
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. It is heartening to see the youth of Aotearoa engage with topics from the Holocaust with support from their teachers and parents.
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. It is heartening to see the youth of Aotearoa engage with topics from the Holocaust with support from their teachers and parents.
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 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.
2020 Winners of the Paul Seideman Annual Composition Prize - Maayan Bialik, Felix Steiner, and Leah Burger with Hon Grant Robertson, Deputy Prime Minister (host of the Parliamentary reception), Holocaust survivor and endower of the competition Paul Seideman. UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January 2021.
Credit: Photography by Woolf
Credit: Photography by Woolf
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 Centre of New Zealand. UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January 2020.
