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January 16, 2010 in Features
Essay contest addresses Holocaust denial
Area high school students are again asked to help the community remember the Holocaust.
For a fourth year, a creative writing contest is part of the Spokane Community Observance of the Holocaust.
This year’s theme is “Confronting Holocaust Denial,” recognizing that some skeptics still do not believe that the systematic slaughter of 6 million Jews occurred during World War II.
Contest entrants are asked to write an essay of 500 to 1,000 words in the form of a respectful letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, one of the most visible Holocaust deniers, discussing the impact of Holocaust denial on humanity and indicating what they plan to do locally to confront it. (For more details, see the Facebook page Never Again Spokane.)
Entries should be double-spaced in Microsoft Word format, with a cover page giving the writer’s name, phone number, e-mail address, school name and grade level. Any referenced material should be annotated at the end.
E-mail as an attachment to neveragain-spokane@ comcast.net by Feb. 18.
The winner will read their composition at the Spokane Community Observance of the Holocaust service on April 11 at Temple Beth Shalom. They will receive a $500 scholarship and a keepsake commemorating their achievement.
The winning entry also will be published in The Spokesman-Review.
Late-Night TV 
WRosencratz on January 16 at 6:09 a.m.
For years we have been ignoring the Holocaust deniers, hoping that if they are confined to their dark, discredit corners of the world, they would eventually go away.
But this is not happening at all. Today, we have thousands of web-sites that deny the Holocaust, Facebook pages dedicated to the denial and even world leaders seeking to “wipe the Jews off the map” who believe the Holocaust was a hoax.
With the recent theft of the Auschwitz “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign, I believe it is time to start taking the gloves off with the Holocaust deniers. With the last of the survivors passing on and the growing influence of fringe groups, perhaps it is time to follow the fine example so many European countries have set where deniers face the prospect of a stiff prison sentence.
oneandtwo on January 16 at 11:33 a.m.
“political correctness” vs 1st amendment rights. I’ll take the latter.
Webster on January 16 at 1:02 p.m.
Can we write about the Denial of Freedom of Speech and the right to question history? After all, we are all paying for it.
And what about the subject of “holocaust fatigue”? Many people don’t deny the holocaust, they just don’t wnt to hear about day in and day out.
When will there be the essay contest about the Holomodor? Or the millions of deaths committed by Stalin and his jewish henchmen?
jerry_rice on January 16 at 5:26 p.m.
It’s always amusing to expect people to be black and white about the holocaust.
Either they must completely deny the holocaust, or they have to completely believe the historical accounts of it, especially the way it is perceived in the media.
I always thought skeptical inquiry was welcomed.
But it appears that society at large would rather shut up people who want to investigate what happened during the holocaust before they shut up those that deny a proven fact such as evolution.
I find it amusing that creationism is allowed to be spoken about and taught to children, even though there is absolutely no evidence supporting it and is a complete fraud, which is solely used to perpetuate useless religious ideas about our origins that have absolutely no evidential basis, whereas questioning and looking for information and researching a historical event that occurred just 50 years ago is forbidden and that one must completely conform to the official story.
If you deny people the right to inquire about the holocaust, then in the same token, deny that right to those that deny evolution. There is much more conclusive evidence for evolution than there is for the exact figures and events that surround the holocaust.
jerry_rice on January 16 at 5:30 p.m.
In my opinion, evolution-denial is rejecting our history and origins in its entirety, and should be deemed a larger crime.
Lets write about that.
Truthman on January 16 at 5:34 p.m.
Denial or not believing ridiculous exaggeration? 6 million was a number that was used by Jews after WWI without success. In the 70s we were told all were killed in secret. In the 90s and today we are told everyone knew and essentially assisted in the killings.
Face it, there is an agenda to the “media’s‘ Holocaust barrage.
Face it, when countries pass laws against questioning the details of the Holocaust the questioners/deniers ARE NOT THE PROBLEM.
oneandtwo on January 17 at 12:07 a.m.
Why not a letter to, gee the guy that started it all?
Dear Mr. Hitler,
You really should not have killed all those Jewish people, because after the war we had to take land from the Palistineans so they could have a place in the Middle East.
They have spent the last 60 years destabilizing the middle east, assasinating people, building secret nuclear weapons, dropping cluster bombs on civilians and all sorts of havoc. they even have all these relatives in New York who funnel them secret money.
They are now one of the biggest arms sellers to China and other bad countries. The good thing is that our Country the U.S. sells them all sorts of cool weapons so they can terrorize the middle east and black mail our Senators.
Thanks a lot. Next time just make them build pyramids or Volkswagens?