7-12 Students in Wisconsin
Holocaust Writing & Art Contest
Winners of the 2025 Holocaust Writing and Art contest in Washington DC
About the contest
The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center and the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC) are proud to partner each year on a contest that encourages middle and high school aged students to draw lessons from the Holocaust.
This contest is generously sponsored by The Mimi & Robert Habush Donor Advised Fund.
Eligible Participants
7-12th grade Wisconsin students
Prompt
How can we move beyond statistics to honor the individual lives impacted by the Holocaust?
Create a written or artistic piece that brings to life the story of a person affected by the Holocaust, showing their humanity, dreams, and identity beyond the numbers.
Original Writing or Art Entry Types
All works must be submitted digitally. All entries are limited to a single object (sculpture entries may include up to four images from different angles). Students may only submit one total entry.
- Original writing or art entry may be one of the following:
- Essay (not to exceed 3 pages, single-spaced – Works Cited pages do not count in the page count)
- Poetry (single poem, not to exceed 3 pages, single-spaced)
- Short Story (not to exceed 3 pages, single-spaced)
- Film/Video (maximum length: 5 minutes)
- Visual Art (painting, drawing, collage, digital art, etc.)
- Sculpture
- Comic Book
- Podcast/Social Media (maximum length: 5 minutes)
Deadline
Friday, March 6, 2026 at 11:59 pm CST
*Only accepting applicants from Wisconsin students
Artists’ Statement
All entries must include an artist’s statement, 50-200 words, in which you identify your inspiration for the piece and the takeaway you would like the audience to have. Entries WILL NOT be judged without this statement. Students should not include their name or any personal information in this statement.
Judging Criteria
Each entry will be judged with the following criteria in mind and using this scoring rubric.
- Offers a clear lesson from the Holocaust and connects it to present day
- Presents accurate historical facts
- Reflects artistry and skill
- Demonstrates originality and creative representation of the theme
- Entries that are not on topic will not be scored
Prizes
There will be 4 grand prize winners, two in the writing category and two in the art category. These four grand prize winners will be taken to Washington DC to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Teachers of the four grand prize winners will receive a $100 gift.
All winners will be featured on the website of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center and in the Milwaukee Jewish Chronicle.
contest resources
Contest Guidelines
Poster
Scoring Rubrics
Teacher Resources
Holocaust Vocab
WI Holocaust Testimony
2026 Winning submissions
PROMPT:
How can we move beyond statistics to honor the individual lives impacted by the Holocaust?
Create a written or artistic piece that brings to life the story of a person affected by the Holocaust, showing their humanity, dreams, and identity beyond the numbers.
Writing Winners
“why the stories are so important”
1st place –
An essay by Rumi Koch,
8th Grade at Shorewood Intermediate School
“I am the rain”
2nd place –
A poem by Chloë Doll, 12th Grade at Arrowhead Union High School
Art Winners
Artist Statement
“more than survivors”
1st Place – Makenzie Midlikowski, 12th grade at Deforest Area High School
My great-grandparents were victims of the holocaust. My great-grandfather was taken to a concentration camp, but eventually released. Meanwhile, my great-grandmother escaped Austria before they were able to get to her Jewish family. They escaped with very few belongings, but they did manage to smuggle out their family Torah in a pillowcase. That Torah is still used in a synagogue in New York to this day. They ended up in New York. They were introduced and eventually married. I wanted to create a watercolor painting of them to commemorate the people that they were. They had such different stories, and both of their lives were majorly affected by the holocaust. I liked the photo I referenced for this piece because they look so happy in it. In the background of the piece are interests or hobbies they had, and the roles they played in people’s lives. They are just two of the millions of people the holocaust affected, and each person affected had a different story, families, and their own lives. It’s important to remember the people the holocaust affected and to not let history repeat itself.
Artist Statement
“property of none”
2nd place – Matthew Nikolaisen, 8th Grade at Komrey Middle School
This piece is made mainly of oil paints, with some additions of alcohol markers, surrounded with international Morse code saying ‘rat’ and ‘vermin’, and is made to represent a prisoner at Ravensbrück camp with the female uniform, my main inspiration was how when people see the numbers from the Holocaust they can imagine people but almost never picture their face, so I took pieces of images from prisoners during the holocaust and put them into a singular person, this piece is meant to help us imagine the fact that people who are only known as numbers today are human like us, and deserve to be recognized.