Israel

The award ceremony of the Israeli History Competition for 2014 – 2015 took place in a different, even intimate surrounding: the three prize winners along with their parents, teachers and representatives of the Ministry of Education as well as the chairperson of the jury, all had gathered for a fascinating evening at a nice restaurant in Jerusalem.

The chosen topic for this year's competition was: "Attitudes Toward the Other as Reflected in History." The subject enabled students to focus on a period or geographic region according to their area of interest, provided that within the framework of their research they would examine various definitions and viewpoints of "others" such as: minority, gender, origin, and adversary. Almost seventy participants aged 13-18 handed in 43 contributions which dealt with a wide variety of topics ranging from Palestinian fashion to the experiences of young children during the Holocaust and an interdisciplinary study of the ideological aspects in the poetry and publicist writing of a prominent leader of a Jewish paramilitary organisation.

After the main course, the students presented their research, working processes, outcomes and the difficulties along the way. The presentations were followed by vivid discussions which ended only when the dessert arrived at the tables.

Ella Cohen from Tel Aviv won the first prize in the age group of 16-18 year olds. She wrote about the history of the Palestinian society from the late 19th century until the 1950s and focused on the role of fashion, mainly through a comparative analysis of the traditional embroidery patterns in different areas. In her work Ella used a wide variety of sources, including a rare interview with the founder of a prominent fashion house.