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Information for the 2011 Essay Contest will be published January 3, 2011.
Please check back then for updates.

Congratulations to our 2010 Essay Contest winners.
Please click here to view the winning essays and list of Honorable Mentions.

The National WWII Museum asks…

“Is censorship ever justified?”

 2010 Student Online Essay Contest

TEACHERS: Click here to print out a 2010 Essay Contest flyer

This spring The National WWII Museum will present a special exhibit, Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings. This exhibit focuses on how the book burnings became a potent symbol during World War II in America’s battle against Nazism, and concludes by examining their continued impact on our public discourse. Learn more about the exhibit HERE.

On May 10, 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler came to power, student at universities across Germany were encouraged to hold series of book burnings of works that Nazi leaders called “un-German.” Enthusiastic crowds witnessed the burning of books by Brecht, Einstein, Freud, Mann and Remarque, among many other well-known intellectuals, scientists and cultural figures, many of whom were Jewish.

The international response to the book burnings was immediate and widespread. Counter demonstrations took place in New York and other American cities, including Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago. Journalists in the American and world press expressed shock and dismay at these attacks on German intellectual freedom, and various authors wrote in support of their assaulted German brethren.

Eerily, among the books consigned to the flames in 1933 were the works of nineteenth century Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, who in 1822 penned the prophetic words, “Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too.” The Nazis were censoring ideas they thought were dangerous to their goal of creating a perfect Nazi society.

The National WWII Museum invites you to tell us, in your own words,

Is censorship ever justified?

Here are some questions to consider:

• Can ideas threaten a nation?
• Should society be able to dictate what is available to the public?
• Can books be weapons?

Use WWII, the Nazi Book Burnings and the American response as a starting point and base your answer in part on examples you find in this history. But don’t stop in the past. History teaches us lessons. Should offensive material be burned or banned? This is NOT a research paper about WWII. Your essay will be judged for originality, clarity of expression, adherence to contest theme, historical accuracy, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The best essays will include specific examples from both WWII and today. You may use examples from your own experiences, if you wish. Museum education staff will judge entries.

First place winner will receive $1,000; second place winner will receive $750; and third place winner will receive $500. Each winning essay will be posted on The National WWII Museum’s website. Excerpts of the first place entry will also be printed in our quarterly newsletter V-Mail (which is mailed to more than 130,000 people across the United States). The top 50 essayists will receive honorable mention on our website.

• Contest is open to all high school students in the United States, United States Territories, and military bases.
• Your essay must be 1,000 words or less.  Only one essay per student may be submitted.
• All essays should be double spaced, have 1 inch margins, include page numbers, include an essay title, typed in 12 point font, and be in Microsoft Word or a compatible format.
• Submissions must be emailed to The National WWII Museum by March 26, 2010, 5:00pm CST.
• Museum will accept the first 500 valid entries only.  The website will indicate when 500 essays have been submitted. 

CLICK HERE

for submission instructions.