Werner Reich is a Holocaust survivor.
At age 17, he and 88 others were selected from a group of 6,000 Birkenau prisoners and turned over to the notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele for medical experimentation.
He considers himself one of the lucky ones. He lived.
The remaining 5,011 prisoners were gassed. Of the 89 chosen by Mengele, less than half survived the war.
Reich recently shared his story of survival and triumph during Yom Hashoah, an evening of prayer and remembrance for victims of the Holocaust, hosted by the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
Members of the local Jewish community and guests gathered last month at Norfolk's Ohef Sholom Temple to honor those who suffered Nazi atrocities, including Reich and 13 other survivors.
Also in attendance were middle and high school students from throughout Hampton Roads and beyond who were finalists in the annual Elie Wiesel Writing and Visual Arts Competition.
The contest, sponsored by the Holocaust Commission, encourages students to explore the dangers and consequences of prejudice, peer pressure, blind obedience to authority and indifference - the life's work of Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.
Romanian-born Wiesel, 85 and a professor at Boston University, is a noted Jewish writer of more than 60 books who documented his experiences as a prisoner at the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps in his book "Night." Wiesel lost his parents and a younger sister in the camps.
After his liberation at the war's end, Wiesel studied in Paris and became a journalist, human rights activist, and, in 1980, founding chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
In 1986, shortly after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Wiesel and his wife Marion formed The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, an organization dedicated to fighting indifference, intolerance and injustice.
The competition, named in Wiesel's honor, garnered 1,450 submissions this year in the categories of essay and poetry writing, visual arts and multimedia arts. The contest is open to "anyone who finds us," said Elena Baum, director of the local Holocaust Commission. Some participants came from as far away as Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota and Canada.
Submitted works related to the question, "What do we do when we see something that is wrong?" Specifically, essays, poems and art honored the sacrifices of the White Rose Society, a nonviolent group of German students who resisted the Nazi regime and its actions, and the Righteous Gentiles, non-Jews like Oskar Schindler (subject of "Schindler's List") who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
Churchland High School's Javan Myrtle, 16, placed second in the Senior Visual Arts division for "Humanity That Cannot be Broken," a painting based on a Japanese folktale about a red thread that links those destined to cross paths. Javan said his social studies teacher, Allen Cotton, encouraged students to enter the competition.
In Javan's symbolic painting, a red thread connects a German woman to a Jewish man she helps during the Holocaust.
"Before the contest, I had never heard about the Germans that didn't hate Jews, like the Righteous Gentiles and the White Rose Society - so that was a new side of the war that I learned about," said Javan, a junior.
Granby High's Natalie Williams, 18, who placed second in the senior essay contest, also said she was unfamiliar with the history of the German resistance movement.
"When we study World War II, the Holocaust always makes its way in there, but the schools are focused on the requirements for the SOLs (Standards of Learning), so the Righteous Gentiles and the White Rose Society are not discussed," Natalie said. "By doing something like this, it offers students the opportunity to expand their knowledge."
Natalie's essay, "Standing Alone," confronts the topic of moral complacency, and how it can lead to abuse of power and atrocities given the right people and circumstances.
"It's important to acknowledge the negative aspects of history," she said. "If you don't, they are likely to happen again."
Indian River High's Craig Blackman, 55, a social studies teacher, believes in the lessons garnered by incorporating Holocaust education in his curriculum. This year, Blackman was honored for his efforts as a recipient of the Holocaust Commission's Esther Goldman Teacher Award.
The award is particularly meaningful to Blackman because Goldman, a Holocaust survivor now deceased, once visited and spoke to his classes.
"Survivors telling their stories have such an impact on students," Blackman said. "It makes kids tolerant and makes them want to be sensitive to others who may be different from them."
Holocaust survivor and local commission member Dana Cohen, 81, said the ugly truths of the Holocaust must not be avoided or covered up, even from young people.
"When I talk to student groups, I tell them when I was 7 or 8 years old, there were a lot of dead bodies in the camp where I was held in Siberia. We lost a lot of people the first year we were there. Afterward, sometimes people will ask me, 'Was it appropriate to talk about that to children?' I say to them, 'Was it appropriate what happened to me when I was a child?' It's important to know the truth," Cohen said.
"I think the important message of this project is for students to realize, in simple words, what evil does to people."
Virginia Beach Middle School's Zoe Williamson created a charcoal/graphite drawing, "Hero Hands," that won the Junior Visual Arts division. The powerful depiction of the hands and arms of a Holocaust survivor convey strength, suffering and survival.
"My goal is for people to identify that the picture represents the Holocaust and to make them thankful for what they have and for the heroes of the Holocaust," said Zoe, 14, an eighth-grader.
Students placing first received cash prizes of $175; second place earned $125; third place $75. Winning student artwork will be displayed in the atrium of Old Dominion University's Virginia Beach Center beginning Monday through June 6.
The Holocaust Commission has been sponsoring the local writing competition since 1998. Visual arts were added in 2002, and multimedia was incorporated in 2009. The competition is underwritten by the Simon Family Foundation and TowneBank.
Baum said the children's work offers hope in an era of turbulence.
"Seeing the depth of thought, of even sixth-graders, and the ability of these kids to grasp the lessons of moral courage that come out of studying the Holocaust, are inspiring," Baum said. "They make you feel that you might have a chance in this world."
Lia Russell, 222-5562, lia.russell@pilotonline.com
Going?
See the Elie Wiesel Visual Arts award-winning works on display Monday May 19May 19 through June 6 in the atrium of Old Dominion University’s Virginia Beach Center, 1881 University Drive, Virginia Beach.
Read the award-winning essays and poems at www.jewishva.org/node/72330.
STUDENT AWARDS
JUNIOR POETRY
1. Abigail Bock, 8th grade, Princess Anne Middle School
2. Felix Wood, 6th grade, Baylake Pines School
3. Alexandra Whitson, 8th grade, Lynnhaven Middle School
JUNIOR ESSAY
1. Jaclyn Vickery, 8th grade, Princess Anne Middle School
2. Kellie Brown, 8th grade, Great Bridge Middle School
3. Elizabeth Carter, 8th grade, St. Gregory the Great School
SENIOR POETRY
1. Tara Opitz, 11th grade, Princess Anne High School
2. Jillian Fleming, 11th grade, Grassfield High School
3. Sydney Kirk, 10th grade, Oscar Smith High School
SENIOR ESSAY
1. Emily Hess, 12th grade, Elizabethtown Area High School, Elizabethtown, Pa.
2. Natalie Williams, 12th grade, Granby High School
3. Brooklyn Everman, 11th grade, Cox High School
Honorable mention. Irena Kesselring, 11th grade, Grassfield High School
SENIOR MULTIMEDIA
1. Charles Pitchford, 11th grade, Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School
JUNIOR MULTIMEDIA
1. Jaden Busching, and Joseph Geheren, 8th grade, Virginia Beach Middle School
T2. Catherine Yopp, 8th grade, Princess Anne Middle School
T2. Cabell Graves and Caroline Graves, 8th grade, Virginia Beach Middle School
T3. Mitchell Maguire, 7th grade, Norfolk Collegiate School
T3. Sarah Bragg, 8th grade, Virginia Beach Middle School
Tied for Chairs’ Choice. Calie Quinn and Catherine Perrine, 7th grade, Norfolk Collegiate School
JUNIOR VISUAL ARTS
1. Zoe Williamson, 8th grade, Virginia Beach Middle School
2. Ethan Maher, 8th grade, Virginia Beach Middle School
3. Summer Lindblad, 8th grade, Lynnhaven Middle School
HM. David Bohannon III, 8th grade, Cape Henry Collegiate School
SENIOR VISUAL ARTS
1. Shannon Locke, 12th grade, Smithfield High School
2. Javan Myrtle, 11th grade, Churchland High School
3. Carley Summerville, 11th grade, Churchland High School
HM. Reagan Garland, 11th grade, Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School
AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN HOLOCAUST EDUCATION
Esther Goldman Teacher Award, Craig Blackman, Indian River High School, Chesapeake
Ruthi Sherman Kroskin Excellence in Holocaust Education Award, Jill Barnes, Grafton Middle School, Yorktown