Education & Art Contests
The Council for Holocaust Education exists to assist and coordinate the Holocaust educational efforts of teachers and students in the greater Tulsa area and beyond.
The Council focuses on Holocaust commemoration and education through several avenues. Among these are:
- Hosting the annual Interfaith Yom HaShoah Commemoration event
- Hosting the Kristallnacht Remembrance event
- Facilitating the Kristallnacht and Yom HaShoah Art Contests
- Facilitating the White Rose Essay Contest
We take seriously our responsibility to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten. The Holocaust is more than a Jewish story. It is a pivotal event that continues to influence today’s world by addressing the consequences of bullying, bigotry, stereotyping and discrimination, and encouraging the acceptance of diversity. The poetry, art, essays, and exposure to the important lessons of the Holocaust produce benefits beyond measure.
Educational Opportunities
Purim Mask Invitational
February 21, 2025
The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art would like to invite your school to participate in the 18th Annual Purim Mask Invitational Competition. It is the goal of the Museum to promote understanding of Jewish life and culture through learning about the Jewish holiday of Purim. Students may explore the holiday by learning about the traditions, foods, and celebration of the story of Esther and her rescue of the Jews of Persia. The winning masks will be exhibited in Spring 2025, at The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art. Other masks will be included in the exhibition as allowed by space and number of entries.
2025 White Rose Memorial Contest
March 3, 2025
The Tulsa Council for Holocaust Education’s Sixteenth Annual White Rose Memorial Essay Contest For Middle and High School Students
Essay Prompt will be announced in Spring 2025.
2025 Yom Hashoah (Holocaust) Art Contest
April 17, 2025
The Yom HaShoah Art Contest For Middle and High School Students in Oklahoma
Theme will be announced Spring 2025.
2025 OKJFF Educational Film
March 23, 2025
Eva.Stories
Free Educational Screenings
Tuesday, March 25— Thursday,, March 27 at 10 am
at the Circle Cinema
Each spring the Jewish Federation of Tulsa and the Circle Cinema partner to offer middle and high school educators a free Holocaust Education Film for their students during the Oklahoma Jewish Film Festival. The 2024 film is Eva.Stories, based on the true story of Eva Heyman, a young girl living in Nazi-occupied Hungary, who began writing a diary of her experiences on her thirteenth birthday. Taken directly from Eva’s diary, producers Mati and Maya Kochavi, transformed Eva’s story using a modern platform that young people can relate to—Instagram. “If we want to bring the memory of the Holocaust to the young generation, we have to bring it to where they are,” said Mati Kochavi. “And they’re on Instagram.”
Young people today can hardly envision a world without social media, let alone one where millions of people much like them were denigrated, persecuted, and eventually exterminated. Eva.Stories bridges that gap by imagining what a Jewish teenager growing up in that time and place might've captured had smartphones and Instagram existed back then. Eva.Stories garnered 300 million views within 48 hours, international support from world leaders, and has won over 30 awards.
The 50-minute film will be followed by a short Q&A with our Holocaust Education team.
A limited amount of transportation scholarships are available by request.
For more information contact Sofia Thornblad, Director of Holocaust Education at 918-492-1818.
Kristallnacht Art Contest
November 4, 2024
The Kristallnacht Art Contest aims to enhance student learning of the Holocaust by providing an opportunity for middle and high school students to turn their historical knowledge into works of art. Each year the contests take on a new theme to inspire artists to showcase their classroom learning using the medium of visual art. The contest meets Oklahoma Academic Standards by relating artistic ideas with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.
All Oklahoma Middle and High School students, grades 6-12 are eligible to enter the contests. Cash prizes awarded to both students and teachers.
Deadline: November 1, 2024
Awards are announced at the annual Kristallnacht Remembrance Event in November.
What Is Kristallnacht?
On the night of November 9–10, 1938, Nazi leaders unleashed a coordinated wave of violence against Jewish homes, Jewish owned businesses, and Jewish places of worship in Nazi Germany. This event came to be called “Kristallnacht” in German, or “The Night of Broken Glass” in English, because of the shattered glass that littered the streets after the widespread vandalism and destruction.
Any Given Child
Tulsa is one of a handful of cities across the nation participating in the Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child program. In partnership with Tulsa Public Schools, the Mayor’s Office, and 11 additional partner arts organizations in Tulsa, students participate in at least nine free, live arts experiences by the time they reach high school. Any Given Child gives each student a live arts experience combined with related classroom curriculum. Each grade level visits a different arts organization or facility. Eighth graders visit the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art.
When eighth grade students arrive at The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art they receive a docent led tour of the Sanditen/Kaiser Holocaust Center as well as the Jewish History and Culture exhibition. Students also visit the Kinder-Stone art installation, a project on the grounds of the museum with names of each of the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. The art installation is simple yet powerful and gives the visiting eighth graders a connection to the lives of the children lost in the Holocaust.
Press
intro copy + link to press kit
