First Place
Max Malkin
Gildersleeve Middle School
7th grade

This painting depicts propaganda between WWII and today. People with signs supporting the Nazis and Hamas in their attempts to wipe our holy land off the map. Messages supporting antisemitism still is going on today with no real signs of stopping. The red sky behind the real propaganda represents the hatred and malice directed toward Jews, first the Nazis in the 30s and 40s and now Hamas in present day. The red splotches around the people represent the blood of the 6 million murdered by the Nazis and 1200 murdered by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Second Place
Elaine Morrison
Trinity Lutheran
7th grade

My drawing shows a child’s shoe with the date 1944 engraved on it. This shoe is sitting on the train tracks in front of the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp. The shoe is a symbol for the many lives of children lost during the Holocaust while Auschwitz in the background symbolizes the camps where many atrocities occurred.

Third Place
Sophie Cameron
Trinity Lutheran
7th grade

For my art piece, I followed the 2nd prompt showing examples of how propaganda played a part in the European Jewish community during the Holocaust and the ways it can be seen today. My art piece shows book burning. On May 10th 1933, Nazi Germans would burn piles of books as a symbolic act to suppress and eliminate ideas that contradicted their ideology. They would burn books written by the Jewish and homosexual community. We can still see this today. Many books are banned in U.S. public schools like “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” and many more.

First Place
Faith Gregory
Hampton Roads Academy
10th grade

Echoes of Influence: The Reflection of Power
There are two powerful leaders, both saluting their devoted followers. This represents the prevalence of propaganda in modern day politics and demonstrates how history is constantly in danger of repeating itself if we as a society do not learn from our previous tragedies. Rather than directly comparing the two parties, the piece is meant to call out and warn viewers of the devastating effects absolute power and misinformed patrons can lead to.

Second Place
Daphne Ambrosino
Hampton Roads Academy
10th grade

Holocaust
Jewish and other minority voices were silenced during the Holocaust. We see similarities in how books are banned today. Whether they are banned or burned, the suppression of media is harmful to society then and it is now.

Third Place
Micah Fulcher
Hampton Roads Academy
10th grade

Jude
Showing many possible numbers signifying the people who were referred to by numbers, and not names is the background. The main centerpiece is the patch that many of the Jews would have worn on their clothes to show their religious faith.

Honorable Mention
Ashley Elizabeth Carter
Hampton Roads Academy
10th grade

Through the Eyes of a Child
You cannot fix what has already been lost.
Trauma is something that nothing can fix.
No time, nor separation, no amount of therapy can ever fix what has already been tattooed on.
Even though one has survived they are never fully freed.
The painting is of fear. Not for what is going to happen but what has already been lived.
And how it can be so important yet get so overlooked.
History is taught for a REASON. Do NOT let it repeat itself.