Bethel Bernier of Acaciawood Preparatory Academy in Anaheim is announced as the first place winner of the poetry category of the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Holocaust survivors attending the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards ceremony are asked to stand and be recognized at Chapman University in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Alma Miller of Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles talks about her art piece that was selected for the first place prize in the high school art category of the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Alma Miller of Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles walks on to the stage at Chapman University’s Memorial Hall to present her art selected for the first place prize in the high school art category of the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Audrey Ho of Brea Junior High School presents her art awarded first place of the middle school category in the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Finalists in the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest are recognized during a ceremony at Chapman University’s Memorial Hall in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Keynote speaker Catie Chase, young alumni program manager at Sage Hill School, tells the story of her grandparents during the Holocaust at the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards ceremony on the campus of Chapman University in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. It was the 27th anniversary of the Holocaust Art and Writing Contest launched as a partnership between the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education at Chapman University and The 1939 Club, now The 1939 Society. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Alma Miller of Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles talks about her art piece that was selected for the first place prize in the high school art category of the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Kate Yamasaki of Travis Ranch Middle School in Yorba Linda is announced as the winner of the film category of the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards during a ceremony at Chapman University’s Memorial Hall in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Kate Yamasaki’s film is shown during the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards ceremony at Chapman University’s Memorial Hall in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. Yamasaki is from Travis Ranch Middle School in Yorba Linda. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Bethel Bernier of Acaciawood Preparatory Academy in Anaheim at the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards ceremony at Chapman University in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. Bernier’s poem was selected for the first place prize of the middle school poetry category. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Bethel Bernier of Acaciawood Preparatory Academy in Anaheim reads her first-place-winning poem at the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards ceremony at Chapman University in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Keynote speaker Catie Chase, young alumni program manager at Sage Hill School, tells the story of her grandparents during the Holocaust at the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards ceremony on the campus of Chapman University in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Meital Kochinski of Northwood High School in Irvine presents her winning prose during the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards ceremony at Chapman University’s Memorial Hall in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
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Bethel Bernier of Acaciawood Preparatory Academy in Anaheim is announced as the first place winner of the poetry category of the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest awards in Orange on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Alma Miller, 15, spent her Friday afternoon at Chapman University, where she and the hundreds of middle and high school students who gathered for this year’s Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest were united under a single artistic theme: “Holding onto Hope.”
As part of the contest, students were tasked with creating art, film, poetry or prose inspired by testimonies from Holocaust survivors and rescuers. The annual competition saw entries from more than 200 schools across 32 states and six countries.
“It was so crazy and it was an amazing experience and I’m really proud,” said Miller, a freshman at Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles. It was her first time participating in the national contest, which celebrates its 27th anniversary this year, but Miller nabbed one of the eight first-place prizes for her art submission.
Alma Miller’s entry.
“I was trying to show how she was stuck in this cage and was trapped, but her ability to think to create poems really helped her retain that humanity,” Miller said of her muse, Itka Zygmuntowicz, a Holocaust survivor whose story overlaps with much of Miller’s great-grandmother’s.
“They grew up a few miles from each other and they were born the same year. That’s why I was originally drawn to this story,” Miller said.
“I’ve always been someone that loves doing art and this specific competition was really important to me because of that connection,” she said.
The contest is presented by Chapman University’s Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education in partnership with The 1939 Society, a division of Holocaust Museum LA.
Along with students from around California and the United States participating, students from Canada, North Macedonia, the Philippines, Poland, Romania and South Africa submitted entries.
On Friday, Miller presented her piece to the audience, which included several Holocaust survivors who spoke to share their stories.
“I think it was really nice for me to see how many people showed up,” Miller said. “Maybe for some of these kids it was their first time learning about the Holocaust and hearing survivors’ testimonies.
