Winners of the 2021 White Rose Essay Contest

The White Rose Society Essay Contest is named in honor of the original White Rose Society, a group of university students in Munich, Germany, who united to call the German people to oppose Nazi oppression and inhumanity through an underground newspaper and leaflet campaign. The society, which chose the white rose as its symbol to represent purity in the face of evil, was originally inspired to speak out in opposition to Nazi eugenics and euthanasia programs.

Our Contestants were asked to research the history of a specific child or youth who was caught in or witnessed the events of the Holocaust in Europe, and then describe how learning about the Holocaust through the personal story of this one individual made the Holocaust more meaningful to them.

First Place winner Callie Sturgell from Germantown Hills Middle School.

You can read her essay: “Victor Rona” here.

Second Place winner Grace Yontz from Blessed Sacrament in Morton.

You can read her essay: “Jacob Bresler” here.

Third Place winner Ella Russell from Germantown Hills Middle School.

You can read her essay: “One of the Millions” here.