On Thursday, April 12, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, announced the winners of the Holocaust Remembrance Scholarship contest at the Jewish Children’s Museum, in Crown Heights. The contest, which is co-sponsored by the Borough President’s office and the Brooklyn Jewish Heritage Committee, calls on Brooklyn high school students to commemorate Yom Hashoah, the day of remembrance dedicated to the millions of victims of the Holocaust, which falls on April 15 this year.

Borough President Markowitz joined a diverse group of student scribes from across Brooklyn who penned essays, poems, and plays based on the question, “What lessons can we learn from the Holocaust and how do these lessons relate to prejudice and conflict in the world today?”

At the ceremony, the students met face-to-face with Frances Irwin and Shmuel Roth, Holocaust survivors from Boro Park Bikur Cholim. Nearly $2,000 in Holocaust Remembrance Scholarships was awarded to the contest winners and their schools.

Winners by category:

Essay
1st place – Julio Guambana, EBC High School for Public Service
2nd place – Nadia Usmani, Franklin D. Roosevelt High School
3rd place – Keila Perez, EBC High School for Public Service

Play
1st place – Ashley Wigger, New Utrecht High School
2nd place – Gabriella Miceli, New Utrecht High School
3rd place – Catherine Cantor, EBC High School for Public Service

Poem
1st place – Sui Lau, New Utrecht High School
2nd place – Aneta Panczak, New Utrecht High School
3rd place – Daphne Regine Vicere, Brooklyn College Academy High School