The Leslie and Norman Davis Student Essay Contest - Essay Topic

The Essay Topic: Write about an individual or group that showed moral courage.

During the Holocaust, it is estimated that eleven million people were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators. Fortunately there were many who survived. Many survivors were rescued by "ordinary" people who took extraordinary risks to become an ally.

Moral courage is the ability to take a strong stand on a specific issue based on one’s personal beliefs or convictions and to defend it regardless of danger or threats to personal safety. Rescuers during the Holocaust, such as Miep Gies, Carl Lutz, Vladka Mead, Oskar Schindler, Chiune Sugihara, and Raoul Wallenberg, exemplify both courage and moral courage. They displayed courage in their ability to face difficulty, danger, and/or pain without fear; they exhibited moral courage when they acted on their own values and beliefs to spare the lives of others at the risk of jeopardizing their own. Their actions serve as a model of personal triumph over adversity and inspire others to act accordingly.

Step 1
Educational Overview: learn more about the history of the Holocaust, and investigate at least two of the stories of the rescuers mentioned above to inspire you to research and write your own essay on moral courage.

The following are helpful websites to visit:
Mapping the Holocaust (Animated Map) 
The History of the Holocaust
The Righteous Among the Nations - Yad Vashem Museum

Step 2
Complete the Reflection Sheet.

Step 3
Choose and research a person that demonstrates moral courage either from the Holocaust or during another time, contemporary or historic. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa, and Ida B. Wells are a few examples, but there are many more. Be sure to discuss your selection with your teacher. Here are some other topics you can research to find other examples of moral courage:

• Rescuers of the Holocaust
• U.S. Civil Rights Movement
• A literary subject dealing with moral courage
• A local community leader
• The Rwandan, Bosnian and Cambodian genocides
• Current examples of genocide or human rights crises, including Darfur, Sudan, Kenya, the Congo, Zimbabwe and Chechnya

Step 4
Write a personal reflective essay which addresses the following:

• How the person demonstrated moral courage
• How his or her actions have impacted the world, and
• Most importantly, share a personal experience or describe how this act of moral courage influences your actions today.