JPEF is Proud to Announce the Winners of Our First Annual Youth Writing Contest

JPEF is proud to announce the winners of our First Annual Youth Writing Contest.

From 500 entries representing 15 states across the country in public, private, Jewish and parochial schools the six top essays were chosen as winners: three from 8^th-9^th grades and three from 10^th-12^th grades. The students wrote about what the life lessons of the Jewish partisans meant to them. The life lessons are:

• Stand up to tyranny, oppression and discrimination…early.
• Question authority.
• Young people can make a difference.

View the contest poster and guidelines here.

Many of the students wrote about their own personal experiences about the life lessons (listed above). The subjects ranged from Darfur to helping children with disabilities.


Essays remained anonymous to our volunteer readers. Each essay was read three times by three different readers.

"I was impressed by the caliber of the writing entries and the tremendous enthusiasm shown by the students and teachers from all over the country," stated Paul Orbuch, JPEF Board Co-Chair.

The winners were:

Lower Division (8^th-9^th Grades):

First place: 9^th grader from Manhattan High School for Girls, NY

Second place: 8^th grader from North Shore Hebrew Academy Middle School, NY

Third place: 8^th grader from Tecumseh Junior High School, IN

Upper Division (10^th-12^th Grades):

First place: 12^th grader from North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, NY

Second place: 11^th grader from Solomon Schechter High School of Long Island, NY

Third place: 11^th grader from Solomon Schechter High School of Long Island, NY

JPEF’s Writing Contest allowed “young people to think deeply about a piece of history that has only recently come into the public spotlight. In doing so, young people across the country have reasoned that the stories of the Jewish partisans are relevant to their own lives and critical to their understand of the Holocaust," commented David Monblatt, JPEF Advisory Board Member.

The top ten essays reflected on the stories of:

Gertrude Boyarski

   

Don Felson

Bernard Musmand

Sara Fortis

Eugenio Gentili-Tedeschi

Frank Blaichman

Abe Asner

Tuvia Bielski

We want to take the opportunity to thank all of the students who participated in the contest, and all of the administrators, educators and mentors who encouraged their participation. We would also like to thank the 35 volunteer readers who helped us judge this contest.

These essays were deeply touching and inspiring to all of us here at JPEF: the staff, board members and partisans. We look forward to hosting the contest again next year.

For further information or questions about the contest, please contact Rachel at Rachel@jewishpartisans.org.


The Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, California. JPEF is the only organization in the world solely focused on bringing the history and life lessons of the Jewish partisans to educational and cultural institutions across the globe.


The Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation

Writing Contest Entries -- Inspiring

As we get closer to the finish line of our writing contest, we are now down to 35 semi-finalists for lower (8th - 9th grades) and upper (10th-12th grades). The quality of the writing is amazing.

I wanted to pull some quotes to share from the lower finalists (upper finalists by Friday)...

"Before I knew about the partisans, I thought that only people of importance could make a difference, that a person like me is invisible to the world. But the partisans experience made me aware of the influence young people can have."

-8th grader, Indiana

"The partisans must never be caught!" The women hurry form the scene and I run with them, marveling at their strength, their audacity, how such young women could stand up to tyranny and prejudice with no second thoughts.

9th grader, New York

"The thought of fighting for what you believe in, no matter what the consequences, is hard to understand. It makes me wonder if such a decision was to be made by me, what I would do. I always think I would stand by my beliefs, but you can never be sure until it happens. If death could be a consequence, would I do it? Would I stand up for the rights of myself and others, or stand down and only hope that others will do it for me?"

-8th grader, Tennessee

"I pledge to do my part to make a difference in our world."

8th grader, Kansas

Bielski Partisan with Clothing from Forest

Sheila Garberman was with the Bielski partisans when she was 12 years old. I met her when I was partipating in a video conference with over 100 high school students in Southern New Jersey. Here is a photo of Mrs. Garberman with the blouse that she has had for over 65 years -- made from a piece of a Russian parachute in the forest by a fellow partisan. She was an orphan at the time -- her family killed by the Germans and their collaborators. Mrs. Garberman brings this incredible artifact to the scores of classes she speaks to in her community and it was an honor to share the morning with her.

During the same presentation with the students, only one out of 100 ever heard of the Jewish partisans before our program (this is normal for most schools, and we strive to change this through our work). We sent the school copies of "Defiance" on DVD for them to review before our video conference call along with our teacher materials. The conversation with the students was fascinating, but most of all, I was touched the the elegance and grace of by Mrs. Garberman and the story of her blouse.

Greetings from Dayton!

Mitch Braff, Executive Director, just led a fantastic workshop last night where the feedback was some of the best we have ever had. Firstly, 100% of the educators will use the material and 100% would recommend the class and materials. Here are two quotes from educators that sought me out after the class to share their enthusiasm:

"I thought it was the best workshop I have ever been to."

"Our table did not want to leave. We said, "No, the four hours can't possibly be up already!"

We have four new trainers for our 'Teaching with Defiance" trainings, and will be teaching later this month in Portland, Maine with one of our new trainers. This will make five TWD workshops in a thirty day period -- a record for us.

Another great quote from a student essay...

What matters is that I am standing up for something that counts. I am doing the right thing whether other people are doing it or not. I will be a partisan like Simon Trakinski and stand up and help whoever I can.

Find out more about JPEF's youth writing contest here.
Deadline for entries is May 10.
Find out more about Simon Trakinski here.

Liev Schreiber Speaks at JPEF Event

Tony Award winning actor Liev Schreiber was the guest of honor at a JPEF event this week in New York. Schreiber played Jewish partisan Zus Bielski in "Defiance" with Daniel Craig, and most recently stared in the Broadway revival of "A View From the Bridge" with Scarlet Johansson.

Schreiber shared his experiences about making "Defiance" and other insights about playing the famous partisan leader, his work, and growing up in New York to the capacity crowd with JPEF board member, Jonathan Kushner (pictured with Schreiber) as moderator. Before Schreiber spoke, Steven Holm and Charlie Blaichman, both sons of Jewish partisans spoke about growing up with father's and mother's who were both in partisan groups in Poland during World War II. JPEF Board co-chair Elliott Felson, whose father was also a Jewish partisan, spoke about JPEF programs and introduced a new video by JPEF.

JPEF will be honoring the Blaichman and Holm families October 4, at the JPEF 2010 Annual Dinner in New York. For more information, email David Kaplan, davidk@jewishpartisans.org.

"Pictures of Resistance" Yom Ha'Shoah event at Brandeis University

Brandeis community members gather to view "Pictures of Resistance"

On April 14th, 2010 "Pictures of Resistance" opened to a full house at Brandeis University for its Boston debut. This rare collection of images by the only known Jewish partisan photographer gave attendees a rare look into the world of the Jewish partisan resistance fighters who resisted the Germans and their collaborators during WWII. The photos were presented alongside the stories behind each of the images – stories of heroism, bravery, camaraderie and loss – as recounted by the partisan photographer herself.

Brandeis also brought in Zvi Bielski, son of the Zus Bielski, who showed a multimedia presentation about his family. Bielski recalled his childhood growing up in the famous, and sometimes infamous family of resistance fighters that were immortalized in the recent Hollywood film Defiance. "Growing up I had no idea the Jews actually lost the war. Sure, I knew relatives had died in the war, but I figured they all died fighting the Nazis like my dad and uncles had." The Bielski brigade saved over 1,200 individuals whose offspring today number in the tens of thousands. Bielski regaled the audience with these stories of his family's heroism, of rescue and survival against the toughest odds, eliciting audible reactions from the audience throughout the evening. Some were even moved to tears.

"Often we hear of Jews as victims, but the stories portrayed in the exhibit spoke of Jews as heroes," said Brandeis graduate student Jessica Levine. "It gave me a new, different Holocaust story to tell, one of resistance and resilience. It made me feel proud to be a Jew."

- prepared for JPEF by V. Judah Khaykin former JPEF Staff and
Brandeis-Genesis Institute Fellow