Hildebrandt Award for Excellence in Holocaust Studies
This award honors Keene State College’s Charles Hildebrandt, professor emeritus in Sociology and founder of the Holocaust Resource Center (now the Cohen Institute) at Keene State College in 1983. It is given in recognition of excellence in Holocaust Studies.
Keene State College students are invited to submit essays, historical analyses, stories, poems, musical compositions, dance, film, theatre, and/or visual arts that demonstrate deep knowledge of the Holocaust.
The award ceremony takes place in April, which is Genocide Awareness Month.
Schedule and Submissions for 2026 Hildebrand Award
- Submissions are due by March 23, 2026.
- Award winners will be notified by April 6, 2026.
- Award ceremony will be held on April 16, 2026.
For additional information about the award, please contact the Cohen Institute team at coheninstitute@keene.edu
Who is Eligible?
- Keene State College undergraduate students are eligible to apply for this award. The winner of the annual award competition receives a monetary prize of $1,000.
Submissions may include:
- Artistic entries – dance compositions, musical creations, poems, short stories, visual works of art, film, or plays
- Scholarly entries – research projects/papers, essays
Entries will be judged by committee and evaluated based upon:
- Accurate historical context
- Originality/creativity/clarity
- Finished presentation
- Use of chosen medium
- Thoughtful encounter with topic
If you would like to see a copy of the rubric that is used to evaluate submissions in advance of the due date, please email coheninstitute@keene.edu. Please note that our committee is not able to provide feedback, notes, or scores for submissions.
Past Recipients
| Year | Keene State College Recipients |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Jack Barker, “Nazo Necrocide: The Disturbance of Jewish Grief in the Holocaust” (research paper) |
| 2024 | Jennifer O’Brienhalla, “The Life of Roman Halla” (film) |
| 2023 | Yasmina Hinkle, “Boxes” (sculptures); and Feride Saribas, “We Will Remember: A Short Animation on the Holocaust” (short film) |
| 2022 | Davis Allen, “Unified Against the Jews: The German and Jewish Questions in Nineteenth Century Germany” (research paper); Allison Newey, “The Yazidi Genocide from a Gendered Lens” (research paper); and Kalie Moynihan (honorable mention), “The Story of Helen Spiegel” (research paper) |
| 2018 | Samantha Brault, “Explanations of Evil: Jewish Understanding of the First World War and the Holocaust” (research paper); and Alexis Sanborn, “Perspectives on Holocaust Education: The Nuremberg Trials” (lesson plan) |
| 2017 | Bethany Peterson, “ab origine” (dance); and Sofia Thornblad, “Visual Witness” (photo exhibit) |
| 2016 | Samantha Brault, “The Barbarians of Hollywood: The Exploitation of Aurora Mardiganian by the American Film Industry” (research paper); Emily Robinson, “Holocaust Education ‘scavenger hunt’” (lesson plan); and Liam Magan (honorable mention), “When the Rainbow Breaks – Life After Trauma” (essay) |
| 2015 | Megan Penney, “Chea Dara Case Study” (essay) |
| 2014 | Alexander Davis, “Disassembled” (dance); Johanna DeBari, “Rape as a Tool of Genocide: Impact of Prosecutor v. Akayesu (1998)” (research paper); and Sarina Kauffman (honorable mention), “A Place for Quiet Screaming (A Place for Lucid Dreaming)” (dance) |
| 2013 | Matthew McDougal, “I Am My Own Wife” (one man performance) |
| 2012 | Chloe Edmonds, “Piecing Together the Past: Inspiration Through a Survivor of the Holocaust” (oral presentation) |
| 2011 | Christopher Jennerjohn, “Looking for Hope” (art); and Taylor Mitchell, “Testimony” (presentation) |
| 2010 | Shawn Ahern, “…vielleicht bin ich deschalb teilweise feige” (dance) |
| 2009 | Meagan Blais, “Inheriting the Holocaust” (essay); and Jessica Howard & Rebecca Miller, “Unearthed Senses” (dance) |
| 2008 | Meagan Blais, “So Here I Am” (essay); Elinor Albin, “The Genocide of Homosexuals in the Holocaust” (essay); and Heather Bowman, “Kaddish: The Music of Remembrance and Hope” (poster) |
| 2007 | Kathryn Kimball and Angie Muzzy “Separate Parallels” (dance); Marlene O’Connor, “Her Story” (mixed media); and Tyler Reed, “Remembrance” (music) |
| 2006 | Adam Berube, “Gerda’s Lieutenant” (dance); and Tyler B. Reed, “Finally Free” (music) |
| 2005 | Takato Maekawa, “Journey of NH Holocaust Survivors” |
| 2004 | Alison Rosenthal, “Infinitely Uncrossing” (dance) |
| 2003 | Yoshio Chandler, “Beyond the Fingertips” (dance) |
| 2002 | Andreas Lawrence, “What You’re Doing” (music) |
| 2001 | Jessica Federico, “Interminable History” (art) |
| 2000 | Brooke Wroblewski, “End of the World” (dance) |
| 1999 | Denise Planchet, “Lest We Forget,” “Pyre,” and “The Rape of Europa” (poetry) |
| 1998 | Roland Brassard, “Arbeit Macht Frei” (sculpture) |
| Year | High School, Middle School and Community Recipients* |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Middle School: Addison Ramsey, “Witnesses of Genocide” (essay) |
| 2022 | Middle School: Madeline Kebalka, “Of what then did you die?” (art); Henry Swan, “Shattered Teardrop” (art); Caelan Vogel, “Juliek’s Violin” (art) |
| 2020 | Community: Melissa Burrage, “The Karl Muck Scandal” (book); High School: Matt Coleman, “The Story of Josef Goldschmid” (short story); Kuna Pholy, “The Khmer Rouge” (documentary video); Middle School: Julia McCarthy, “The Pink Triangle: The Silent Genocide of Gay Men in Hitler’s Germany” (research paper) |
| 2019 | Community: Tanya Bosse & Dance Works Movement Design, “Porajmos” (dance) |
| 2018 | Community: Jane Meneghini, “Song of Juliek” (poetry); High School: Marcos Silveira, “Bittersweet” (short story); Middle School: Eden Anne Bauer, “Night (A Response To Elise Wiesel’s ‘Night’)” (piano composition); and Hannah Vogel (honorable mention), “The Room Of Mirrors” (short story) |
| 2017 | Community: Roberta Visser, “What is Your Wrath to Offer only Rubble” (poetry); High School: Olivia Howe, “Hope in the Dark” (short story) |
| 2016 | Community: Roberta Visser, “Lodged” (poetry); Middle School: Alex Minickiello, “Chocolaterie des Martens” (short story); Naomi Nunez (honorable mention), “Beyond the Rose Field” (poem) |
| 2015 | Community: Charles Fray, “Black Fear” (play); Middle School: Anthony Minickiello, “Kristallnacht” (poetry) |
| 2014 | High School: Shannon Weidman, “Bounded” (art); Middle School: Buckland-Shelburne Elementary, “Remember…” (art) |
| 2013 | Community: Peter Eisenstadter, “My Father, Alfred Eisenstadter” (memoir); Student Award: Hannah Pepin, “The Star” (poetry) |
| 2012 | Community: Steve Schroth, “Abnormal Killing: The Unlikely Murder of Homosexuals Men Under the Third Reich” (research paper); High School: Elspeth Huscher, “The Holocaust: A Christian Tragedy” (research paper) |
| 2011 | Community: New England Dance Ensemble of Londonderry, N.H., “A Child’s View of the Holocaust” (dance); and Jessica Spear, Chesterfield (N.H.) School sixth-grader, “Anne Frank” (monologue); High School: Hannah Early, Brattleboro Union High School, “Liberation” (art) |
| 2010 | Community: Craig Divis, “Anti-Nazi Dissent, Opposition and Resistance” (presentation); Aimee Fogg, “There Exists a Fence” (book); Richard Sirvint, “Holocaust Dilemmas: A Practical Guide for Educators” (essay); Middle School: Jaffrey Rindge Middle School |
| 2009 | Community: David Afra, “The Jar of Tears” (story performance); Hannah Bush, “Be a Witness” (song performance) |
| 2008 | Community: Rob Hamel, “Finding Humanity in the Inhumane: Forgiveness and the Holocaust” (essay); Zoe Bordenet, “Judenrat Leaders: Inhabitants of the ‘Grey Zone’” (essay); High School: Kelly Rittenhouse, Kim Jeffries, and Sabrina Shemet “The Lone Ranger: The Story of Thomas Weisshaus” (documentary film) |
| 2007 | Community: Valerie Snowdon, “Dreams: A Portrait of Choreographer Anna Sokolow” (research paper); High School: Samuel Hoye, “From the Ashes of Angels” (poetry) |
| 2006 | High School: Ashlee Simpson, “Ribbons and Bows” (poem and art) |
| 2005 | Community: Rob Hamel, “The Star Within” (short story); Junior High School: Briana Joyce Lewis, “Soul of the Holocaust” (art) |
| 2004 | Community: Lindsay Plumpton; High School: Alexandra Hoffman, St. Paul’s School, “Every Child Must Raise Itself” (essay) |
| 2003 | Community: Stephanie Hurley, “Songs from the Holocaust;” High School: Jenna Finley, Conant High School, “Trodden” (poetry); and Rachel Littlefield, Conant High School, “What Can I Say” (poetry) |
| 2002 | Community: Patricia Robinson, “The Camp” (poetry); High School: Stephanie Hastings, Keene High School, “The Snow Fell Thickly” (poetry) |
| 2001 | Community: Brooke Wroblewski, Sam Hansen, Jennifer Blair, and Susan Tutino, “Beginning of Hope” (dance); High School: Rebecca Liss, “Death March” (poetry) |
| 2000 | High School: Thayer High School, Art & Sociology, “Man’s Inhumanity to Man” |
*Please note that the Cohen Institute was able to award middle school, high school, and/or community versions of this award up until 2023. The current structure of the award only allows eligibility for undergraduate students at Keene State College.
