The Freeman Family Holocaust Education Centre of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada is proud to sponsor the Mina Rosner Human Rights Award. The cash  prize is awarded annually to a Manitoba student in grade 9-12 who produces the best essay on the theme of the Holocaust or other important human rights issues. The winning essay should exemplify the message that Mina Rosner brought to schools and the general public. Mina Rosner was a Winnipeg mother, grandmother, businesswoman, author, educator and Holocaust survivor. She grew up In Buchach, now in the Ukraine and saw her friends, family and community exterminated by the Nazis.  She recorded her war-time experiences in her book I am a Witness. In 1990, she returned to Buchach for the first time since the war, and the visit was captured in an award winning CBC documentary called Return to Buchach. The sole survivor in her family, she moved to Winnipeg in 1948.

Mina Rosner devoted many hours to educating people about the horrors of the Holocaust. In addition to her book, she spoke to hundreds of students on the importance of combating racism and discrimination and defending human rights.

After her passing in 1997, Mina Rosner’s friend’s and family decided to honour her memory and keep her legacy alive by creating “The Mina Rosner Memorial Fund” at the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba.

We ask that you encourage your students to participate in this worthy endeavour. Essays will be judged for proficiency in conducting research, presentation of issues, sincerity, coherence, and writing skills. Students are encouraged to visit the Freeman Family Foundation Holocaust Education Centre Asper Jewish Community Campus, 123 Doncaster Street to learn more about the Holocaust. Essays should be 1000 -1500 words in length, typed double-spaced and neatly presented.

Please send entries to the Mina Rosner Human Rights Award, c/o The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada (Attention: Belle Jarniewski, C140-123 Doncaster Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3N 2B2. Entries can also be submitted electronically to jewishheritage@jhcwc.org. Please note “MIna Rosner Essay Competition Entry” in the subject line and use Microsoft Word format or PDF format. Please ensure that you provide an email address, name and phone number where you can be reached. Any questions can be submitted to the same email address with “Mina Rosner Essay Competition Question” in the subject line. We ask you to limit each educator’s entries to the top five submissions he or she judges to be best by the above criteria.

The deadline for all submissions to this competition is May 30 of each calendar year.