Holocaust survivors, young listeners gather at Chapman’s annual ceremony

Holocaust survivors and the young students who tell their stories of survival and hope through prose, visual art and film came together at Chapman University’s 15^th Annual Holocaust Art & Writing Contest Awards Ceremony, held Friday, March 7.

The survivors in attendance received standing ovations, and a handful of students received top awards. But the opportunity to hear and meet those who experienced the Holocaust was priceless for all, said William Elperin, president of The 1939 Society, and the son of Holocaust survivors.

“The lesson for you is profound. No matter the type of background you come from, no matter how bad your life may be, no matter how poor you might be, no matter how badly you might have been treated, you, too, will prevail … if you work hard, if you are a good person, if you are kind to others and treat others with respect. … You, too, will have an indestructible spirit,” Elperin said.

The annual contest invites middle- and high-school students to create poetry, prose, artwork or films in response to survivors’ oral testimonies about their Holocaust experiences. This year students from 175 schools across 20 states entered the contest. The semifinalists, their teachers and families, along with about 40 survivors and their families, filled Memorial Hall. Afterward, they gathered in a large tent on the Bert C. Williams Mall for lunch, conversation and signings of The Holocaust Chronicle: A History in Word and Pictures, made possible by Louis Weber and Publications International.

It was a day Hailey Shi said she would never forget. After studying an oral history interview by Engelina Billauer, Hailey painted a picture of the moment Billauer and her sister were separated from their parents, both of whom were deaf and taken away by Nazis. Hailey met Billauer at the reception.

“Meeting her was very wonderful,” Hailey said. “I hope that people generations from now will still hear it and understand that it was a very hard time to live through, but it will never be forgotten.”

Winners include:

• First Prize Art, High School Division: Withered, by Hannah Wheeler, grade 12 Trabuco Hills High School, Mission Viejo, inspired by Fred Diament.
• First Prize Film:  High School Division, See It Through My Eyes, Jenny Kim, grade 11, Crean Lutheran High School, Irvine, inspired by Selene Bruk.
•  First Prize Writing, High School Division: To Whom This Story Remains Untold, Justin Johnson, grade 9, Orange County School of the Arts, Santa Ana, inspired by Jack Lewin.
• First Prize Art, Middle School Division: Never Again, Hailey Shi, Grade 8, South Pointe Middle School, Walnut, inspired by Engelina Billauer.
•  Second Prize Art, High School Division: Every Little Bit Helped, Joshua Sands, grade 9, Acaciawood College Preparatory Academy, Anaheim, inspired by Regina Lewin.
• Second Prize Writing,  High School Division: The Question of Faith:  “Why Me?” Andrew Aldujalli, grade 10, J. Serra Catholic School, San Juan Capistrano, inspired by George Weiss.
•  Second Prize Art,  Middle School Division: Broken Pieces of Memory, Hannah Vito, grade 8, Yorba Linda Middle School, Yorba Linda, inspired by Alice Friedman.
• Second Prize Film, Middle School Division: The Human Will – The Will to Survive, Ethan Frisone, grade 8, Kraemer Middle School, Placentia, inspired by Thomas Blatt.
• Second Prize Writing, Middle School Division: Listen, Nicole Merritt, grade 8, St. John’s Episcopal School, Rancho Santa Margarita, inspired by Katherine Sattler.

The contest is sponsored by The Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences, The 1939 Society, The Samueli Foundation and Dana and Yossie Hollander.