The schools in Placentia-Yorba Linda District had won 100% participation taking part in the annual Holocaust contest held by Chapman University. This has been their 18th year and have continued to pass on the message of the survivors. The theme was “I Have a Story to Tell”, and numbers of students from our school had had the chance to get involved.

This contest is supported by one of the biggest Holocaust survivor organizations in the United States; The 1939 Society. Students who participate in this contest uses the survivors stories provided by this organization and create their work. Participants are to focus on the theme of both Holocaust and ethical decision making in our world today, by expressing their thoughts and reflection from the survivor’s experience in art, film, poetry, and prose.

From our school, Mrs. Magnin led the contest in fine arts. All the students who take her class had taken part in this contest and created their own original art piece. Mrs. Magnin commented, “It was more to be happy to be part of the contest. I enjoy teaching people how powerful visual art can be to communicate deep and meaningful personal responses,”.

About the competition Magnin said,“It gives them a voice to the past that may be eternal because they’ve been published, recorded, and videotaped, so when they are gone, their voice will be eternally here teaching the next generation. It is for those who forget history, and bound to repeat it. It’s never been more important to teach tolerance,” .

The students of Esperanza were encouraged to use any art media such as watercolor, acrylic paint, and colored pencil. They focused on capturing sympathy from the survivor’s experience and reflecting it from their own experience. According to Mrs. Magnin, there were couple of students’ whose artwork stood out the most..

Some of these entries include Senior Anthony Luciano who was one of the seven finalists out of 7000 entries. Het had learned from Sam Steinberg’s experience and created Glimpse of the Past. He had a strong connection with the Holocaust. His family is Armenian and his grandparents had relatives who survived.  Also Senior Risa Kuper chose to share Edgar Aftergood’s story. Her painting is called Fueling the End, demonstrating the fuel of his strength to fight against the Nazi’s by the violin and the music notes of fire. Junior Heather Jung also made an impression after learning from Marika Somerstein. She created The Last Gifts from Her Father, telling the story of how Marikia’s father had sacrificed everything to save his family.

As time passes by, the number of the survivors are starting to disappear. They are trying their best to preserve their experience in many ways, just like what they do in  this Holocaust contest. It is our job to teach the next generation about what had happened and never forget it.