Four MMI Preparatory School students placed in the 23rd annual Israel T. & Mildred Klapper Memorial Holocaust Essay Contest. The contest is sponsored jointly by the Hazleton Jewish Community Council and the Greater Hazleton Ministerial Association.
Senior Sydney Karpowich captured first place in the High School division and senior Julia Snyder placed second. Eighth grader Lucy Butkiewicz and seventh grader Jakob Narrow tied for second place in the Middle School division. MMI English instructor Jennifer Novotney and History instructor Grete Floryshak were the faculty advisers for the competition.
In June of 1939, a German ocean liner carrying nearly 1,000 Jews seeking freedom in America was turned away from the port in Miami and forced to return to Europe because of U.S. anti-immigration policy. More than 25 percent of those passengers died in the Holocaust. For the contest, students had to submit an essay of up to 300 words listing the signs they see that the world is now more/less responsive to human suffering. A panel of judges chosen by the Greater Hazleton Ministerial Association read each essay and selected the winners.
Prize-winning entries will be read by the students and prizes will be awarded at the Hazleton Holocaust Community Service on Wednesday, April 11 at 7 p.m. at Beth Israel Temple, 98 North Church Street in Hazleton.
Sydney Karpowich is the daughter of Atty. Donald Karpowich and Tracy Gallagher of Sugarloaf. Julia Snyder is the daughter of Dr. Christopher and Dr. Jill Snyder of Sugarloaf. Lucy Butkiewicz is the daughter of Edward and Sheila Butkiewicz of Conyngham. Jakob Narrow is the son of Howard and Marie Narrow of Hazleton.
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