Essay Contest

The essay contest’s central theme revolves around amplifying the voices that were often marginalized and overlooked during that tumultuous period of history. It strives to bring attention to the unique experiences, challenges, and acts of resistance carried out by women in three European countries, who fought against the tyranny, discrimination, and persecution imposed by the National Socialist regime.

Anyone between the ages of 18 and 29 who lives in Germany, Poland or the Czech Republic can participate. The 3 best papers will be awarded with prize money (1st place: 600 EUR, 2nd place: 400 EUR, 3rd place: 300 EUR). The winning texts will be published in an English-language essay volume (print edition) and on the project website; additional texts will be published online.

Essay Submission

The submission for the Essay Contest is closed. We thank you for your participation. The results will announced during our prize ceremony on October 25, 2024 in Leipzig.

If you have any questions, please get in touch: info@women-in-resistance.eu

Conditions of participation

1. Eligible to participate

  • Anyone between the ages of 18 and 29 who is a resident of Germany, Poland or the Czech Republic is eligible to participate.

2. Submission

2.1 Modalities

  • The essay must be an independently written text. The essay must be written in English. The essay may only be written by one person. Each person may submit only one essay.

2.2 Way of submission

  • The essay should preferably be uploaded using the upload form on the website. Files must be submitted in Microsoft Word .doc or .docx format.
  • A maximum file size of 5 MB must not be exceeded.

2.3 Length of the essay

  • The length of the continuous text should be at least 3500 and a maximum of 8000 characters including spaces, but excluding footnotes, if any are used.
  • The formalities are Times New Roman, 12 point and 1.5 line spacing.

2.4 Form and purpose of the essay

  • The essay is not intended to be a scientific paper. Facts and data should be correct, but the focus is not on them. It is more important that the experiences, fates and/or courage of the women inspire young adults of today and also motivate them to deal with the problems of the here and now.
  • Key questions could be: What did it mean to resist back then and what sacrifices did this entail? What motivated the women to resist? What were the (gender-specific) challenges and dangers? What was (probably) the source of their courage? And to which situations and problems in today’s society can this perhaps also be related?
  • These questions do not necessarily have to be answered with the essays, they should rather provide inspiration for your own reflection. Creativity in the essays should come first. However, if sources are used, they must be cited correctly. So, the author is free to use footnotes.
  • Creativity should stop at facts. If you refer to events in history or the fate of a woman, these should be verifiable and, above all, true. It’s not about creatively interpreting history, but about creating something creative from it.

2.5 Essay criteria

  1. Fulfillment of the topic and relevance: Does the essay refer to a biography of a female resistance fighter or a challenge faced by women in the resistance during the National Socialist era? It is also important that a bridge is drawn to the present day. What can we learn from these fates today? What current problems can the courage of these women inspire or even warn us about?
  2. Structure: It is not about fulfilling a certain structure, as each person is free to decide what form the essay should take. Nevertheless, it should not appear arbitrary and should have a structure in the sense that the thoughts, the message and the arguments are understandable: Is the essay clearly structured? Are the arguments or thoughts comprehensible, do they build on each other or does it seem rather confusing? Is the essay’s message clearly recognizable?
  3. Originality and Creativity: How creatively is this topic dealt with in an essay? Is there a creative starting point, a new connection to the here and now?
  4. Accuracy of the facts: The essay should give space to creativity in particular. However, the facts and biographies should be reproduced correctly. If desired, sources can be used for this purpose.
  5. Impact on the reader: Does this essay leave a lasting impression on the reader? Has it made this person think for themselves? Is the argumentation or train of thought convincing?
  6. Grammar and Spelling: These points are also included, but since it is a competition in English by mostly non-native speakers, this criterion should not carry too much weight.

2.6 Independence

  • By submitting the essay, the author assures that it is written independently and that any auxiliary materials other than those indicated are not used. The passages in the essay that have been taken from other works in terms of wording or meaning are indicated with reference to the sources. Failure to do so will be considered as an attempt to deceive, which will exclude the recognition of the contribution and its publication and may result in further sanctions.

2.7 Contact details

  • By submitting the contribution, the author agrees that his/her personal data (name, address, date of birth, e-mail address, postal address) may be processed and stored by the project organizers (Bildungswerk Sachsen der Deutschen Gesellschaft e. V., Stiftung Kreisau für Europäische Verständigung, Antikomplex) within the framework of the essay competition. Since the project is funded by European Union grants (grant program: CERV-2022-CITIZENS-REM), the author agrees that the personal data may be disclosed to the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union for the purpose of project documentation and project accounting. The author assures that he/she can be contacted under the information provided during the submission until the end of the essay contest. The organizer must be informed of any changes in contact details during the course of the competition.

2.8 Closing date

  • The closing date for entries is August 19, 2024 at 11:59 pm.

3. Publication and award ceremony

3.1 Awards

  • The 3 best essays will be selected by a trinational jury and awarded with prize money (1st place: 600 EUR, 2nd place: 400 EUR, 3rd place: 300 EUR).

3.2 Publication

  • The winning texts will be published in an English-language essay volume (print edition) and on the project website; additional selected texts will be published online. There is no entitlement to prize money and publication.

3.3 Award ceremony with the prize winners

The award winners will attend the award ceremony on October 25, 2024 in Leipzig in Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig. Travel and accommodation costs will be paid by the organizer.

3.4 Declaration of consent by the award winners

  • The prize winners agree to be published in the context of the essay contest on the organizers‘ websites (www.women-in-resistance.eu, www.dg-bildungswerksachsen.org, www.krzyzowa.org.pl, https://antikomplex.cz/de/), in the newsletter and annual report of the Bildungswerk Sachsen der Deutschen Gesellschaft e.V., in the social networks of the organizations by name and with photograph. The awardees further agree to be depicted by name and with photograph in reports of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union and the European Union for the purpose of project-related public relations on websites, social media and publications.

3.5 Granting of rights

  • The authors selected for the volume agree to grant the Bildungswerk Sachsen der Deutschen Gesellschaft e.V., all participating partner organizations, and the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union and the European Union the right to publish their contribution submitted in the application after the competition.

4. Rights and duties of the publisher

4.1 Editing and proofreading

  • Editing and proofreading shall be carried out or commissioned by the publisher. The publisher is then obliged to send the author the edited and corrected version in each case. The author is entitled to correct the version sent to him/her and, if necessary, to revise it and to issue the printing permit without special remuneration and is obliged to provide feedback by a deadline set by the publisher. The consent to the sent version and the printing permission shall also be considered as granted if the author does not declare his consent to them within a reasonable period of time after receipt of the version. A reasonable period of time is considered to be two weeks from the date of dispatch by the publisher, unless the publisher sets different deadlines in individual cases.

5. Rights and obligations of the author with regard to the publication

5.1 Editing

  • The author agrees to take into account the recommendations and suggestions of the publisher with regard to editing, content and style. If, after the proofreading arranged and sent by the editor, an appropriately corrected or revised essay is not sent by the author within the reasonable period of time, the editor is entitled to reject the essay altogether or to publish it in its proofread version arranged by the editor.

5.2 Second publication

  • In the case of a secondary publication of the essay in other media, the author requires the written consent of the publisher. The publisher, title, place of publication and year of publication of the first publication must be stated in case of further publications.
  • If the author has already published his or her submitted contribution in another medium prior to the publication of the anthology, the author is required to clarify the publication rights for the publication taking place within the framework of the essay competition.

5.3 Honorarium

  • The author will not receive any honorarium for the publication of the essay.

6. Essay volume

  • The essay volume will be printed in an edition of 1000 copies and will be freely available through the organizer while supplies last. The author is entitled to get three copies for his personal use.