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.
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.
Rules and Guidelines:
- 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.
- Museum will accept the first 500 valid
entries only. The website will indicate when 500 essays have been
submitted.
Additional Information
Please visit the sponsor's Web site for additional information and to
apply.