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Leendert Overduin Civil Courage Essay Contest

Sister Cities since 1980, Palo Alto and Enschede, the Netherlands 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, offered cash prizes and an opportunity for the winners to visit Enschede as Sister City ambassadors in June 2023. 

Click here to see photos from the student's impactful one-week visit to Enschede, during which time they met Holocaust survivors, forged friendships with their Dutch and German counterparts, lived with host families, attended a Dutch high school for a day, appeared on the local news, and participated in a host of other activities and experiences. 


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.

Read coverage of our contest in The Jewish News of Northern California. 
Read our press release:
overduin_release_pdf.pdf
File Size: 609 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Our 2022 U.S. Contest Winners

Bloomington:
Picture

First Place
Ailuen Liu
9th grade
Bloomington High School North


Picture
​

Second Place
Jack Steiner
11th grade

Bloomington High School North
Picture

Third Place
Rena Cohen
10th grade
Bloomington High School North

​
Palo Alto:
Picture

First place
Abigail Karel
9th grade
Palo Alto High School
Picture
Second place
​Sydney Ernest
9th grade
Kehillah Jewish High School
Picture
Third place
​Devanshi Chand
9th grade
Kehillah Jewish High School


 Illustration of Pastor Overduin by Enschede artist Sonna Krom
ABOUT NEIGHBORS ABROAD

Neighbors Abroad fosters Palo Alto's domestic and international engagement through friendship,
education, commerce, and sustainability. 

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Palo Alto, CA 94301
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  • Home
  • Sister and Sibling Cities
    • Albi, France >
      • Albi 2023 Delegation to Palo Alto
    • Bloomington, Indiana
    • Enschede, Netherlands
    • Heidelberg, Germany
    • Linköping, Sweden
    • Oaxaca, Mexico
    • Palo, Leyte, Philippines >
      • Palo, Leyte, 2022 Delegation
    • Tsuchiura, Japan
    • Yangpu District, China
  • Programs
    • Art and Sustainability
    • Business Accelerator Connections
    • Climate Offsets and Network
    • Education: BEAM and FIT
    • 60th Anniversary Fundraising Party
    • Overduin Essay Contest >
      • Overduin Student Trip
    • Student Exchanges
    • Ukraine Relief Fund
    • Yaxe Rainwater Capture Project
    • Young Artists and Authors Contest
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Shop
  • About
    • Palo Alto
    • Board Members
    • In Memoriam
    • Partners
  • Contact Us
  • News and Events
  • Blog