Leendert Overduin Civil Courage Essay Contest
Sister Cities since 1980, Palo Alto and Enschede, the Netherlands have joined forces to launch the Leendert Overduin Civil Courage Essay Contest, open to high school students in Palo Alto and neighboring cities, as well as their Sister City peers in Europe and students in our Sibling City, Bloomington, Indiana. The cross-border contest, organized by Neighbors Abroad, offers cash prizes and an opportunity for the winners to visit Enschede as Sister City ambassadors.
The story of Pastor Leendert Overduin’s life-risking humanitarian efforts during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands is starting to be unearthed in his native Enschede, a town of 160,000 near the German border. Overduin’s life and legacy are the subject of the 2020 Dutch documentary “The Conscience of a City,” produced by Enschede resident Willy Berends and available on YouTube (please see below).
Outside Enschede, however, the Protestant pastor’s quiet legacy is barely a historical footnote. This innovative contest aims to change that.
A member of the Dutch resistance, Overduin saved hundreds of Jewish children and adults through an underground network of safehouses in the Dutch countryside. After the war, he provided aid to the orphaned children of Dutch collaborators. His dramatic story—multiple arrests by the Nazis, hundreds of lives saved—invites comparisons to Germany’s Oskar Schindler, the subject of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film.
The story of Pastor Leendert Overduin’s life-risking humanitarian efforts during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands is starting to be unearthed in his native Enschede, a town of 160,000 near the German border. Overduin’s life and legacy are the subject of the 2020 Dutch documentary “The Conscience of a City,” produced by Enschede resident Willy Berends and available on YouTube (please see below).
Outside Enschede, however, the Protestant pastor’s quiet legacy is barely a historical footnote. This innovative contest aims to change that.
A member of the Dutch resistance, Overduin saved hundreds of Jewish children and adults through an underground network of safehouses in the Dutch countryside. After the war, he provided aid to the orphaned children of Dutch collaborators. His dramatic story—multiple arrests by the Nazis, hundreds of lives saved—invites comparisons to Germany’s Oskar Schindler, the subject of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film.
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Read coverage of our contest in The Jewish News of Northern California. |
Contest Rules
Who can participate? In the United States, the Sibling Cities pair of Palo Alto, California and Bloomington, Indiana are participating in the contest. In Bloomington, all current high school students who attend school in either the Monroe County Community School Corporation or the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation are eligible. In the Palo Alto area, all current high school students who attend school or live in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Atherton and Menlo Park and Redwood City are eligible. Students who live in these cities, but who attend schools outside the contest area, are eligible. European participants should refer to their own cities' contest materials.
Essay prompt: Pastor Overduin demonstrated great civil courage and humanitarianism without any expectation of recognition. How is selfless devotion to others evidenced in the modern era? In the age of social media, is it harder to do good for the sake of good? Does that matter, as long as good works are manifested? Students are invited to address any or all of these questions or to pursue their own take on Pastor Overduin’s legacy of civil courage and how his example resonates today.
Length of essay: 500-800 words.
Deadline and submission information: The deadline was May 1 and our judges are working on selecting the winners!
Prizes and selection of winner: A jury of local community members will select three winners from the Palo Alto area. First place: $500; Second place: $300; Third place: $100. The top two contest winners from each participating city (Palo Alto, Bloomington, Indiana and Muenster and Heidelberg, Germany) will be invited to visit Enschede as Sister City ambassadors and to meet the Enschede contest winners. All trip details, including the dates of travel, will be determined at the sole discretion of Enschede officials. Winners will be announced in the last week of May 2022.
Please email questions to: Mschreiber@neighborsabroad.org
Illustration of Pastor Overduin by Enschede artist Sonna Krom
Essay prompt: Pastor Overduin demonstrated great civil courage and humanitarianism without any expectation of recognition. How is selfless devotion to others evidenced in the modern era? In the age of social media, is it harder to do good for the sake of good? Does that matter, as long as good works are manifested? Students are invited to address any or all of these questions or to pursue their own take on Pastor Overduin’s legacy of civil courage and how his example resonates today.
Length of essay: 500-800 words.
Deadline and submission information: The deadline was May 1 and our judges are working on selecting the winners!
Prizes and selection of winner: A jury of local community members will select three winners from the Palo Alto area. First place: $500; Second place: $300; Third place: $100. The top two contest winners from each participating city (Palo Alto, Bloomington, Indiana and Muenster and Heidelberg, Germany) will be invited to visit Enschede as Sister City ambassadors and to meet the Enschede contest winners. All trip details, including the dates of travel, will be determined at the sole discretion of Enschede officials. Winners will be announced in the last week of May 2022.
Please email questions to: Mschreiber@neighborsabroad.org
Illustration of Pastor Overduin by Enschede artist Sonna Krom
