Waldman - Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

Theme Details

Entries must engage with the history of the Holocaust in ways that address the following:

“[Albert] Camus said, ‘Where there is no hope, one must invent hope.’ It is only pessimistic if you stop with the first half of the sentence and just say, There is no hope. Like Camus, even when it seems hopeless, I invent reasons to hope,” – Elie Wiesel

The Holocaust was a time of mass atrocity and despair; yet, those troubling times also revealed the struggles and triumphs of hope and resilience. Victims and survivors recall memories of harrowing distress and, simultaneously, memories of hope they clung to in order to overcome the darkness. Some remember the decency shown by neighbors, the fortitude of family members and friends, and even the constancy of the natural world as reasons for hope. This year’s theme requires students to use primary sources, true stories and testimonies of the Holocaust, that reflect on how and what Holocaust victims and survivors drew strength from in order to go on living, both during the war and after. We ask students to examine how these individuals/groups showed Resilience, not only in the way they suffered, but in the way they lived – in the choices they made during and/or after the war that helped them gain the strength to keep living and rebuilding their lives. Resilience is defined as: “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress,” (American Psychological Association).

Sources

All entries must be based on a primary source:

“Primary sources of information are those that provide first-hand accounts of the events, practices, or conditions you are researching. In general, these are documents that were created by the witnesses or first recorders of these events at about the time they occurred, and include diaries, letters, reports, photographs, creative works, […and some first-hand reporting in newspaper articles]. Primary sources also include first-hand accounts that were documented later, such as autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories.” (library.illinois.edu)

Entries may utilize a secondary source(s) ONLY in support of exploring/understanding their primary source:

“In contrast, a secondary source of information is one that was created later by someone who did not experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions you’re researching. […] Secondary sources are generally scholarly books and articles. Also included would be reference sources like encyclopedias [which would include a fact-checked article out of Wikipedia, for Waldman purposes].” (library.illinois.edu)

According to these definitions, students may utilize oral testimonies and oral histories, as well as journal and diary entries, memoir, autobiography, interviews and other audio/visual recordings. Students may wish to refer to primary sources provided by or about survivors, partisans, liberators, resistance workers, those in hiding, and refugees. Participants may choose to reflect in their art form how these histories and experiences influence, or connect to, personal and collective events of today. We encourage students to consider ordinary people who were placed in extraordinary situations, rather than only relying on iconic figures of the Holocaust.