The student awards ceremony for winners of the annual Holocaust Arts and Writing Contest, the educational element of the project, begins at 11:30 a.m. The commemoration ceremony follows at noon.

The Garfield High School String Quartet provides a musical interlude after the awards ceremony.

The commemoration ceremony features Erika Gold, a Holocaust survivor from Beachwood, Ohio, who will bear witness to how she and her family and other Jews in Hungary were treated during the Holocaust. Gold was born Erika Taubner in Budapest in 1932.

By June 1944, the Holocaust came to Hungary in earnest and Erika nearly lost her life twice before turning 12. She will share her memories of what happened to her and to her family. 

Erika Gold speaks to area students, (at their schools and at the Maltz Museum in Beachwood where she guides them through exhibits about the Holocaust) in memory of the lost, and to honor the survivors. She has been quoted telling students, "Be fair, know what's right, don't police anybody, and keep your eyes open and your ears open, and think."   

One of the goals of the City of Akron’s long-running Holocaust Arts and Writing Contest has been to support area teachers and students as they learn about many different aspects of the Holocaust. The 2009 theme is Kristallnacht ["The Night of Broken Glass"], November 9-10, 1938: The Eruption of State Sponsored Violence against Jews in Germany and Austria. What are the origins and consequences of mass violence? This special theme was chosen to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht on November 2008.

Contest jurors who are experts in art, writing, multimedia, as well as the Holocaust have chosen the award winning works to be published in the annual book distributed throughout the area. First place winners’ schools will be awarded a $150 grant to acquire books and media for their libraries.  First place winning students and their teachers are invited to go to Washington D.C. to tour the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Capital and national monuments.

Esther Hexter, Holocaust education expert and chairperson of the Holocaust Commemoration Committee said, "I am so impressed and encouraged by quality and originality of the winning entries in this year’s competition. "The care and concern the student authors and artists displayed not only for the victims of Kristallnacht in the Holocaust, but also for victims of more modern atrocities shows great sensitivity and thought by the students and their teachers."

An exhibit featuring award winning art works from the contest will be held at the Main Library now through May 1.  

Donations to the City of Akron Holocaust Memorial Trust Fund enable the continued awarding of these prizes for excellence to students and to continued learning about the Holocaust by providing resources for winners’ school libraries. Send donations to City of Akron Holocaust Memorial Trust Fund, 166 S. High St., Room 200 Akron, OH 44308.